Re-routing autonomous vehicles using dynamic routing and memory management for border security purposes

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a system and method for navigating an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV) that utilizes an-onboard computer and/or one or more ADV control system nodes in an ADV network platform. The on-board computer receives physiological and ADV occupant identification sensor data concerning one or more occupants occupying an ADV, sensor data concerning the items being transported within the ADV, and information concerning the ADV itself to aid border security agencies in protecting their respective borders and territories (e.g., international borders, security zone borders, geographical borders, etc.). The relevant border agency can receive certain information over a network concerning one or more ADVs and make a determination if a heightened security screening should be requested. In response to a request, the on-board computer automatically initiates a dynamic routing algorithm that utilizes artificial intelligence to re-route the ADV to a predetermined destination, for example a border security facility.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/926,661, filed Mar. 20, 2018 and entitled“Re-Routing Autonomous Vehicles Using Dynamic Routing and MemoryManagement for Border Security Purposes”, the entire disclosure of whichapplication is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Various embodiments relate generally to autonomous-driving vehicles, theassociated features and capabilities, and the associated systems andmethods utilized to perform certain functionalities. More specifically,systems, methods and devices are configured to navigate an ADV and altera navigation route in various ways based upon input data, sensed dataand received data.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Typical approaches to driverless cars do not take into account variouscircumstances that a passenger in a driverless car may face while beingmotored to a destination across geographical security borders. Forexample, current self-driving vehicles systems do not properly accountfor the identification of the occupants of the self-driving vehicleand/or the items that are carried across the border within the vehicle.For example, utilizing self-driving vehicles to cross security bordersinto geographical areas (e.g., countries, designated security areas,etc.) that require vehicle occupant clearance and security screening foritems that reside within the vehicle pose unique problems for both thevehicle occupants and the security personnel in the discharge of theirduties.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

It is an object of one or more embodiments of the present invention toimprove upon the aforementioned deficiencies.

One or more embodiments described herein include a system and/or amethod that is used to route and autonomously navigate an autonomousdriving vehicle (ADV) using a dynamic routing algorithm that utilizesartificial intelligence and improved memory management. The system andmethod utilized by one or more embodiments to route and autonomouslynavigate an ADV using a dynamic routing algorithm that utilizesartificial intelligence and improved memory management includes anon-board computer that is programmed to autonomously navigate a vehicle.One or more embodiments of an ADV include one or more sensor devicescommunicatively coupled to the on-board computer, and one or moreprocessors that are programmed to determine a vehicle location thatrepresents a current geographical location of the vehicle.

One or more embodiments described herein include a system and/or amethod that is used to route and autonomously navigate an autonomousdriving vehicle (ADV) using a dynamic routing algorithm that utilizesartificial intelligence and improved memory management. The system andmethod utilized by one or more embodiments to route and autonomouslynavigate an ADV using a dynamic routing algorithm that utilizesartificial intelligence and improved memory management includes anon-board computer that is programmed to autonomously navigate a vehicle.One or more embodiments of an ADV include one or more sensor devicescommunicatively coupled to the on-board computer, and one or moreprocessors that are programmed to determine a vehicle location thatrepresents a current geographical location of the vehicle. One or moreembodiments of an ADV determine a first destination that represents afirst predetermined geographical destination of the vehicle, generate amap of a geographical region that includes the vehicle location, thefirst destination, and navigable pathways between the vehicle locationand the first destination upon which the vehicle can navigate to reachthe first destination. One or more embodiments of an ADV generate afirst route that includes the vehicle location, the first destination,and a first set of navigable pathways included in the first route uponwhich the vehicle can navigate to reach the first destination. One ormore embodiments of an ADV analyze information concerning the first setof navigable pathways (e.g., navigable pathway information) included inthe first route and generate a first route time that represents thetotal time it will take the vehicle from the vehicle location tonavigate the first route to reach the first destination. One or moreembodiments of an ADV set the first route as the current route, set thefirst destination as the current destination and navigate the vehiclealong the current route, periodically determine and update the vehiclelocation and set each updated vehicle location as a current vehiclelocation that represents the current geographical location of thevehicle. One or more embodiments of an ADV, in response to thedetermination of a current vehicle location, update the first route timeto the current route time that represents the time it will take thevehicle to reach the current destination from the current vehiclelocation navigating the current route, generate a first alternativeroute set that represents a set of one or more alternative routes thatthe vehicle can navigate from the current vehicle location to thecurrent destination that are different from the current route, whereineach of the alternative routes in the first alternative route setincludes at least one navigable pathway that is not included in thecurrent route and each of the other alternative routes. One or moreembodiments of an ADV, in response to the identification of a routecondition set that represents one or more qualifying route conditionsthat will be applied to each alternative route in the first alternativeroute set, apply a route condition set to each alternative routeincluded in the first alternative route set and determine a qualifyingroute set that includes one or more qualifying routes that meet all ofthe qualifying conditions. One or more embodiments of an ADV, inresponse to no route condition set being identified, set an alternativeroute set as the qualifying route set, analyze information concerningthe one or more navigable pathways included in each qualifying routeincluded in the qualifying route set and generate a qualifying routetime for each qualifying route that represents a time that it will takethe vehicle from its current location to navigate the qualifying routeto reach the current destination. One or more embodiments of an ADVdetermine, from a current route time and each qualifying route time, ashortest time, and in response to the shortest time being shorter thanthe current route time, automatically set a qualifying route associatedwith the shortest time as a new current route and navigate the vehiclealong the new current route to reach the current destination.

One or more embodiments of an ADV include an on-board computercomprising one or more processors programmed to autonomously navigate avehicle along a current route to a predetermined first destination. Oneor more embodiments of an ADV include one or more sensor devicescommunicatively coupled to the on-board computer, wherein the one ormore sensors devices are configured to generate sensor data that isindicative of an identification of one or more persons and one or moreitems within the vehicle. One or more embodiments of an ADV include oneor more processors that, in response to generating security screeningdata, are programmed to generate security screening data utilizing atleast a portion of generated sensor data. One or more embodiments of anADV include one or more processors that, in response to a request for aheightened security screening, are programmed to receive a securityentity location that represents a geographical location of a securityentity. One or more embodiments of an ADV include one or more processorsthat are programmed to determine a current vehicle location thatrepresents a current geographical location of the vehicle. One or moreembodiments of an ADV include one or more processors that are programmedto generate mapping information for a geographical area that includesthe current vehicle location, a security entity location and one or morenavigable pathways between the current vehicle location and the securityentity location. One or more embodiments of an ADV include one or moreprocessors that are programmed to utilize mapping information, andgenerate a new route from a current vehicle location to a securityentity location that includes one or more of the navigable pathways andautomatically re-route and autonomously navigate a vehicle from thecurrent vehicle location to the security entity location along the newroute. One or more embodiments of an ADV include a data storage devicecommunicatively coupled to one or more processors for retrievablystoring data and an in-memory processing system that includes at leastone of the one or more processors to perform in-memory processing ofdata received from one or more devices included in the system.

One or more embodiments of an ADV include an on-board computercomprising one or more processors programmed to, in response toreceiving the security entity location, utilize mapping information andgenerate a second route from the current vehicle location to thesecurity entity location and a corresponding second route time thatrepresents a time that it will take the vehicle to reach the securityentity location from the current vehicle location.

One or more embodiments of an ADV include an on-board computercomprising one or more processors programmed to utilize mappinginformation and generate a set of one or more alternative routes thatinclude one or more navigable pathways from a current vehicle locationto a security entity location. One or more embodiments of an ADV includean on-board computer comprising one or more processors programmed togenerate a set of one or more alternative route times for each generatedalternative route that represents a time that it will take from acurrent vehicle location to reach a security entity location, whereineach alternative route includes at least one navigable pathway that isnot included within a current route or any of the other alternativeroutes. One or more embodiments of an ADV include an on-board computercomprising one or more processors programmed to, in response to anidentification of the set of one or more alternative routes, determine anew current route by comparing the second route time to the set ofalternative route times, determining a shortest time between the secondroute time and any of the alternative route times, and setting the routeassociated with the shortest time as the new current route of thevehicle.

One or more embodiments of an ADV include an on-board computercomprising one or more processors programmed to, in response to arequest for a heightened security screening, wirelessly transmitsecurity screening data to a border security entity. One or moreembodiments of an ADV include an on-board computer comprising one ormore processors programmed to, in response to a request for a heightenedsecurity screening, wirelessly access one or more governmental datastorage structures, compare at least a portion of security screeningdata that includes an identification of one or more occupants within avehicle to the contents of the data storage structure. One or moreembodiments of an ADV include an on-board computer comprising one ormore processors programmed to utilize data stored within the one or moregovernmental data storage structures to confirm an identification of oneor more occupants within a vehicle. One or more embodiments of an ADVinclude an on-board computer comprising one or more processorsprogrammed to compare confirmed and unconfirmed security screening datato a list of factors. One or more embodiments of an ADV include anon-board computer comprising one or more processors programmed togenerate a request for a heightened security screening in response toany confirmed and/or unconfirmed security screening data satisfying afactor.

One or more embodiments of an ADV include an on-board computercomprising one or more processors programmed to compare confirmed and/orunconfirmed security screening data to a list of factors wherein eachfactor has a numerical risk value associated therewith that can becombined to determine a level of risk, determine if the level of riskmeets a risk value threshold, and generate a request for a heightenedsecurity screening in response to the level of risk meeting the riskvalue threshold.

One or more embodiments of an ADV include one or more sensors thatcomprise one or more cameras that are configured to generate image dataof one or more persons within a vehicle and one or more items placedwithin a vehicle. One or more embodiments of an ADV include one or moresensors that comprise one or more transducers that are configured togenerate data indicative of a weight of one or more items placed withina vehicle. One or more embodiments of an ADV include an on-boardcomputer comprising one or more processors programmed to process datagenerated by a camera and/or a transducer to assist in an identificationof one or more persons and/or one or more items within the vehicle.

One or more embodiments of an ADV include an on-board computercomprising one or more processors programmed to initiate a monitoringmode wherein at least one of one or more processors is ready to receivephysiological state data concerning a person's one or more vital signsfrom one or more sensor devices. One or more embodiments of an ADVinclude an on-board computer comprising one or more processorsprogrammed to calibrate the at least one of the one or more sensordevices with respect to one or more of the person's vital signs toobtain a normal range for the one or more vital signs.

One or more embodiments of an ADV include an on-board computercomprising one or more processors programmed to process receivedphysiological state data to determine in real time if one or more eventsare detected. One or more embodiments of an ADV include an on-boardcomputer comprising one or more processors programmed to transmit anevent to a border security entity. One or more embodiments of an ADVinclude an on-board computer comprising one or more processorsprogrammed to analyze the physiological state data to determinemeasurements of the one or more vital signs, and compare the currentmeasurement of the one or more vital signs to a predetermined normalrange of the one or more vital signs for the person.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of thedisclosure will be apparent from the following description ofembodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichreference characters refer to the same parts throughout the variousviews. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead beingplaced upon illustrating principles of the disclosure:

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting an example of an implementation of anavigation method and system for an ADV that is utilizing navigationtechnology that relies upon data utilized by an on-board navigationsystem to route an ADV, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2A is an example of a functional block diagram depicting a systemincluding an ADV on-board navigation system that is utilized to controlan ADV, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2B is an example of a functional block diagram depicting an ADVoccupant state and monitoring system that is utilized to monitor thestate of one or more occupants of an ADV, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting an example of an architecture for an ADVcontrol system and on-board computer, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a diagram depicting an example of a memory architecture for anADV control system and on-board computer, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a diagram depicting an example of an architecture for an ADVcontrol system computer node, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 6A is a diagram depicting an example of an ADV control systemnetwork platform, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 6B is a diagram depicting an example of an ADV control systemnetwork platform capable of communications with designated bordersecurity facility, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 7 is an example of a block diagram including a flow chart of one ormore steps performed by one or more processors and/or other devices toroute an ADV based upon sensor data, navigation data, and/or other dataprovided to the processor(s), according to some embodiments;

FIG. 8 is an example of a block diagram including a flow charts of oneor more steps performed by one or more processors and/or other devicesto alter a previous navigation route stored and/or undertaken by an ADVbased upon sensor and/or other data received by the processor(s),according to some embodiments;

FIG. 9 is an example of a block diagram including a flow charts of oneor more steps performed by one or more processors and/or other devicesto alter a previous navigation route stored and/or undertaken by an ADVbased upon sensor and/or other data received by the processor(s),according to some embodiments;

FIG. 10A is an example of a block diagram including a flow charts of oneor more steps performed by one or more processors and/or other devicesto alter a previous navigation route stored and/or undertaken by an ADVbased upon sensor and/or other data received by the processor(s),according to some embodiments;

FIG. 10B is an example of a block diagram including a flow charts of oneor more steps performed by one or more processors and/or other devicesto alter a previous navigation route stored and/or undertaken by an ADVbased upon sensor and/or other data received by the processor(s),according to some embodiments; and

FIG. 10C is an example of a block diagram including a flow charts of oneor more steps performed by one or more processors and/or other devicesto alter a previous navigation route stored and/or undertaken by an ADVbased upon sensor and/or other data received by the processor(s),according to some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

One or more embodiments of the present invention functions to generaterouting information, mapping information, navigational information,occupant identification information, information containing itemstransported by an ADV, occupant state information, routes, referenceinformation including a current position of one or more ADVs, timinginformation including current times to reach a current destination,etc., as described herein. One or more embodiments allows for thetransmission, by one or more processors included in an ADV on-boardcomputer and/or one or more control and system nodes 502, of theidentification of the ADV occupants, the characteristics and descriptionof the items within the ADV that may be transported across the securedborder, a unique identification of an ADV (e.g., number, VIN,transmitted identifier, or any other structure used to differentiate oneADV from another), information concerning the trip, the physiologicalstate of the ADV occupant(s), and any other requested information to aborder security entity. For example, the border security entity can beany type of border security agency that secures any type of securityborder that is accessible to and can be crossed by an automobile orother vehicle traversing navigable pathways (e.g., borders betweencountries, facilities with heightened security, governmentalagencies/buildings, parking lots and secure company grounds, or anyother roadway or navigable pathway that leads to an area that requiresauthorization for entry for any purpose) before the ADV arrives at theborder and/or the heightened security facility. In this manner, a bordersecurity agency can determine based upon its own internal procedureswhether it requires or seeks elevated scrutiny of either or both of theADV occupants or the ADV contents. Enabling a security agency to knowwith a high degree of confidence that the information that is receivedconcerning ADV occupants and the relevant ADV contents is accurate willallow for the crossing of security borders (e.g., national borders)without additional security screenings will result in a costs savings tothe security agency in that the agency will not have to waste resourcesin an effort to identify the ADV occupants, the ADV contents, requestand access the nature of the trip, reasons for travel and otherinformation that may be received by the agency at any time before theADV reaches the secure zone. Additionally, allowing for theuninterrupted travel of one or more ADVs across secured zones, includinginternational borders, will afford persons a more expedient, safer andmore efficient mode of travel.

One or more embodiments of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV) aredescribed herein that are configured to autonomously drive one or moreADV occupants to a destination that resides on the other side of asecurity border. For example, with reference to FIG. 1, if one or moreADVs is programmed to navigate one or more routes that cross a securityborder of some kind (e.g., a route that has a starting point A thatresides in an originating country and ends in another country, such as aforeign country to the occupants residing in the ADV, such that the ADVis autonomously navigated across a secured border), it can be the casethat one or both of the originating country and/or the other country canhave border security that operates to screen persons and/or vehiclesleaving and/or entering the respective country. In this scenario, one orboth border security organizations associated with the respectivecountries may want to know 1) the identification of the occupants ridinginside the ADV (ADV occupants), 2) the state (e.g., physiological state)of the one or more ADV occupants, 3) the identification of any contentsand the nature of the items residing in the ADV that are beingtransported across the security border, and/or 4) information concerningthe ADV itself, and/or 5) the nature of the trip (e.g., why are theoccupants riding together and/or what is the purpose of the trip, forhow long is the trip, are the ADV occupants coming directly back, isthere a person(s) that will be contacted, etc.).

Once a border security mode is initiated, information concerning theidentification of the vehicle, the identification of the occupantsresiding in the ADV, information concerning the trip, informationconcerning the contents of the ADV, the current physiological state ofthe occupants, and other information concerning the trip is utilized todetermine if a heightened screening of any one or more of the above isrequested from a relevant border security agency. If the border securityagency determines that a heightened security screening is not required,the ADV will be allowed to freely cross the security border and navigateits current route without interruption from the border security agency.

If, however, for any reason it is determined that a heightened securityscreening is required, the ADV will be automatically re-routed from itscurrent geological location to a predetermined new geologicaldestination that is a border security facility. The new geologicaldestination can be wirelessly transmitted over a network to a relevantADV, stored in an ADV on-board computer 204, and/or transmitted to anADV over a network by one or more control and system nodes 502 thatreside on the ADV control system network 610 and are communicativelycoupled to the ADV via a network 608, as described with reference toFIGS. 6A and 6B. One or more embodiments of the present invention willutilize occupant sensor devices 208 to monitor the physiological stateand detect an event that can be analyzed and factored into the decisionto automatically re-route the ADV to a border security facility for aheightened screening. In one or more embodiments of the presentinvention, while one or more ADVs are functioning to autonomouslynavigate across a geographical network, one or more border securityagencies can initialize a border security mode for the relevant ADVsthat are currently navigating routes that will cross a security borderthat the respective border security agency is charged with protecting.In these embodiments, if the respective border agency decides at anytime after the relevant border agency determines the identification ofthe ADV and the planned route (e.g., during a scheduling phase for thetrip before the ADV occupants occupy the ADV, during a routing phase ofthe trip, at any time while the ADV is navigating the relevant route,and/or at any time wherein a relevant border security facility cancommunicate with the relevant ADV(s) to transmit or with one or morenodes 502 that reside within the ADV control system network 610 to havetransmitted the necessary routing information such that the ADV candetermine the new destination, determine a new route to reach thedestination from the current geographical location of the ADV, andutilize the on-board computer 204 to automatically re-route the ADV tothe relevant border security facility utilizing a dynamic routingalgorithm that utilizes artificial intelligence to continuouslydetermine the shortest pathway to reach the new destination from thecurrent location of the ADV as described herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates at least a portion of an ADV navigation system (e.g.,ADV 602) and generally illustrates one or more of its capabilities togenerate a route for an ADV that includes a starting point A and a firstpredetermined destination B, use input data, sensed data, received dataand/or other data to autonomously navigate an ADV from the geographicalstarting point A to the geographical destination point B, andautomatically re-route an ADV using input data, sensed data, receiveddata and/or other data to determine a new geographical ending point B+1using a navigation system based upon one or more embodiments describedherein. For simplicity sake, one ADV is shown performing routing andnavigation operations on roadways provided within a single geographicalarea (e.g., a geographical area that includes portions of an originatingcountry, a foreign country, a portion of a secured border separating thesame and one or more navigable pathways crossing the secured border).However, one or more embodiments of the ADV navigation system network(described with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B) can function to aide afleet of one or more ADVs to, for example, route and navigate aplurality of ADVs throughout the same or different geographical areas onnavigational pathways. In one example, ADV 602 includes a vehicleidentification that may be utilized by the on-board navigation system toallow for the operation of the same. In other examples, the vehicleidentification can be transmitted over a network 608 to a remotenavigation service (RNS) that enables the RNS to check the status of thevehicle. In one or more embodiments, the vehicle identification can betransmitted over a network 608 to a border security agency as describedwith reference to FIG. 6B. The vehicle identification can includeoccupant sensory and/or identification data, data concerning a routeand/or other navigation data, and/or sensory, navigation, control and/orany other data discussed herein concerning the vehicle, the route,and/or the occupants therein. Examples of the embodiments describedbelow are applicable to a single ADV and a fleet of autonomous-drivingvehicles and can generate routing information and navigate one or moreADVs across long distances, including between towns, cities, states,countries, etc. As shown in FIG. 1, an ADV 602 is being controlled by anon-board navigation system, embodiments of which are disclosed herein,to determine a route R_(N) between starting point A and ending Point Band autonomously drive (i.e., navigate) the ADV from starting point A toending point B along navigation route R (route R). In this example, ADV602 is a passenger vehicle that is configured to autonomously move oneor more persons along Navigation Route R using an on-board navigationsystem. In other embodiments, ADV 602 may be any vehicle that usesnavigational pathways to navigate a geographical area.

An ADV 602 shown in FIG. 1 includes ADV sensors that can be used tocollect data to navigate the ADV through its surroundings, sensors 208used for collecting data about one or more vehicle occupants, sensors220 that can be used to collect data about one or more items that mayreside in an ADV, and an on-board navigation computer 204 that uses atleast a portion of the data that is communicated via the aforementionedsensors in connection with other data to navigate (i.e., the ADVautonomously drives the ADV occupants) the ADV along a route R to apredetermined destination. For example, in one embodiment, one or moreof the sensors described herein that are included in and/or associatedwith an ADV can be utilized to sense vital signs of one or moreoccupants of the ADV. The sensors can be configured to detect one ormore vital signs including blood pressure, temperature, respirationrates and heart rates or other physiological states and/or data points.The sensors for detecting the vital signs or other physiological statesand/or data points can either be non-contact sensors that can performcontinuous and/or long-term monitoring of the occupant's vital signs,one or more wearable sensors that are attached to one or more vehicleoccupants to perform continuous and/or long-term monitoring of anoccupant's vital signs, or various combinations of non-contact sensorsand wearable sensors to communicate an occupant's vital signs to theon-board navigation computer and controller.

For example, during and/or after the ADV has determined a route R thatrequires an ADV to cross a secured international border, the on-boardcomputer 204 can wirelessly transmit information concerning 1) theidentification of the one or more ADV occupants, 2) informationconcerning any items that are being transported within the ADV, 3) anyother trip details (e.g., geological point of origin, geologicaldestination, identification of persons to be visited, lodginginformation, length of stay, reason for travel, other countries to bevisited, etc.) and 4) ADV identification information that identifies theADV and/or characteristics concerning the same (e.g., functionality,year, make, model, VIN, insurance information, emissions information,etc.) to a border security agency. The security agency can, based atleast in part upon the information requested and/or received, utilizeits own methodologies to determine that heightened screening isrequired. In one or more embodiments, an ADV on-board computer 204 mayalso begin monitoring the physiological states of one or more ADVoccupants using occupant sensors 208 and transmit the processedphysiological state data to the relevant border control agency if astress event, anxiety event or other event that may be utilized todetermine if a heightened security screening is to be requested. Forexample, the one or more sensors 208 can monitor the vital signs of oneor more ADV occupants while the on-board computer 204 is navigating theADV along a route R_(N) across a secure border. In one or moreembodiments, if the on-board computer determines that one or morerelevant vital signs and/or additional detections, occurrences,measurements, readings or sensed data concerning either the ADV or oneor more ADV occupants is indicative of an event (e.g., stress, destress,anxiety, heightened awareness, panic attack, etc.), the on-boardcomputer is programmed to automatically transmit this information alongwith any other information requested (during or before the trip) to adesignated border control agency via a network 608 (as described hereinwith reference to FIG. 6B). Thereafter, the security agency 650 maydetermine that a heightened security screening is warranted.

In response to a heightened security request from the security agency650, the ADV is automatically re-routed to a new geological destinationD_(N+1) that is, for example, a security screening facility or any otherlocation wherein a security agency 650 may engage in a security and isreachable over navigable pathways. In one or more embodiments, theon-board computer 204 is configured to receive the new destination fromthe border agency 250 via network 608 with the requisite informationsuch that the ADV is automatically re-routed and autonomously navigatedupon a newly generated route (if applicable) to reach the designatedscreening area residing at the new destination. In one or moreembodiments, one or more nodes 502 that reside in the ADV network 610are communicatively connected via network 608 to the security agency 650such that the new destination information is transmitted from the borderagency 650 to the relevant ADV via one or more nodes 502 that arewirelessly connected to the ADV via network 608. In these one or moreembodiments, the ADV identification may be utilized such that only therelevant ADV will receive the information to be utilized to re-route theADV. In one or more embodiments, an on-board computer 204 is programmedwith the destination D_(N+1) that is associated with a particular borderagency depending upon the particular border to be secured and, once arequests for heightened security is made, the CPU 302 will generatemapping information that will include the pre-designated security agencydestination D_(N+1) such that the ADV will be automatically re-routed tothe new destination across navigable pathways using generated routinginformation utilizing the dynamic routing algorithm that utilizesartificial intelligence described herein. In one or more embodiments, asensor is a sensor device that can be a system, an apparatus, a camera,any device that detects light to generate an image, an electro-magneticdevice that utilized any form of electricity and magnetism to image,measure and/or detect a phenomenon, software, hardware, a set ofexecutable instructions, an interface, a software application, atransducer and/or various combinations of the aforementioned thatinclude one or more sensors utilized to indicate, respond to, detectand/or measure a physical property and generate data concerning thephysical property. In another example, a sensor may be a transducer orany other device that measures weight (e.g., imperial system, metricsystem, international standards, pound, NIST, etc.), mass or a force.

FIGS. 2A, 2B and 3 are functional block diagrams of an embodiment of anon-board ADV navigation system 200 that can be used to route andnavigate an ADV 602 generally shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIGS. 2A-2B,each embodiment of an ADV described herein has an on-board computer andcontrol system (on-board computer) 204 that operates to autonomouslyposition and control an ADV to navigate the same from a geographicalstarting point A to a geographical ending point B without requiring anADV occupant to accelerate, idle, engine-throttle, steer, brake, or warn(e.g., using a vehicle horn, wiper blades, hazard lights, or using aturn signal) another vehicle or pedestrian of an action that may somehowaffect the other vehicle or pedestrian. The sensor data generated by thesensors described with reference to FIGS. 2A-2B will be processed by theon-board computer 204 described with reference to FIGS. 2A, 2B and 3 toautonomously navigate and control the ADV. The on-board computer 204operates to among other things, for example, generate, determine and/ormonitor 1) routing information that includes, when necessary, re-routinginformation, 2) navigational information to navigate an ADV from ageographical starting point to a geographical ending destination, and 3)sensor information that digitally describes an ADV's externalsurroundings, vehicular activities, and one or more of an occupant'sphysiological and current state. For example, an ADV's driving devicessuch as, for example, a steering wheel, a brake pedal, a gas pedal, aturn signal, a mirror(s), and a caution horn will be controlled by anADV device controller 212 pursuant to control signals transmitted by theon-board computer 204 described with reference to FIG. 3. The on-boardcomputer 204 communicates with the ADV reference sensors 216 and thenavigation and control sensors 218 to receive the associated sensor dataand processes the same to autonomously drive the ADV utilizing ADVdevice controller 212).

To assist the on-board computer 204 in navigating the ADV, the ADVreference sensors 216 generate sensor data (e.g., that generate sensordata concerning the direction the ADV is facing and the orientation ofthe ADV) that is processed by the on-board computer 204 via the ADVreference positioning system 304 to determine the geographical positionand location of an ADV on the Earth's surface, a position which iscorrelated with a navigational map of a relevant geographical area viathe mapping system 310 to enable the on-board computer 204, utilizingthe dynamic system 308, to ultimately determine a route R_(N) andadditional routes R_(N+M). For example, in one embodiment, a referencepositioning system 304, described with reference to FIG. 3, is includedwithin the on-board computer 204 and utilized to receive the sensorinformation generated by the ADV reference sensors 216 to generatepositioning information that represents the location of the ADV on theEarth and, ultimately, on a map. The location information can include,for example, the direction the ADV 602 is facing and/or headed (e.g.,the directions being the cardinal directions and ordinal directions),the ADV's orientation (e.g., angle of inclination and rotationalposition). In another embodiment, ADV reference system 304 can be astand-alone device that generates positioning and reference data thatmay be input into on-board computer 204 utilizing one or more I/O ports316 to program the CPU to perform the described functionality.

In one or more embodiments, maps generated by on-board computer 204include mapping information such as navigable pathways that an ADV cannavigate, the geographical location of geographical artifacts that arefound along the navigable pathways and/or the relevant geographicalregion, artifacts including, for example, one or more of city streets,tolls, lights, bridges, highways, street cameras, structures,businesses, identified accidents or traffic jams, locations, etc. thatmay exists and are identifiable geographically within the relevantgeographical area. For example, the on-board computer can query thedatabase or utilize the in-memory processing system described herein toobtain the geographical location(s) of a certain type of geographicalartifacts (e.g., border security agencies, border crossings, securityand secure zones, businesses, residences, gas stations, schools, banks,arenas, ballparks, healthcare facilities, etc.) and receive a list ofaddresses or a display of the aforementioned relevant artifacts thatappear on a map generated on a display 210 and referenced as a symbol orany other display device that can be used to visually represent one ormore of the relevant geographical artifacts on the display 210. Thesegeographical artifacts can reside in and span across differentcountries, states, cities, counties, and/or towns and geographical areasthat are associated with the respective mapping information may spanacross secure borders (e.g., international borders).

In one embodiment, the positioning system can use a global-positioningsystem (GPS), the Quazi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), Beidou, Galileo,Globalnaya Navigazionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema or Global NavigationSatellite System (GLONASS), or any other system that is accurate enoughto determine the position of an ADV within the time and distanceconstraints such that the position can correlate with mappinginformation generated utilizing mapping system 310, be continuouslyupdated, and fall within certain positioning distances such thatnavigation of the ADV 602 can be safely achieved while maintaining theaccuracy of the routing information generated by utilizing dynamicrouting system 308. Depending upon the size of the area to be navigated,Indoor Positioning System (IPS) can also be used as the otherpositioning systems described herein.

The ADV referencing sensors 216 can include sensors that measure thephysical movement and orientation of the ADV, including but not limitedto one or more accelerometers, geomagnetic field sensors, speedometers,etc. The current position of the ADV is continuously updated and used bythe navigation and driving mode system, routing system and mappingsystem that are part of the on-board computer 204, described withreference to FIG. 3, to generate routing information and autonomouslynavigate the car along the generated route.

Navigation and control sensors 218 described with reference to FIGS.2A-2B generate sensor data that is communicated to the navigation anddriving mode system 306 that is utilized by the on-board computer 204described with reference to FIG. 3. The navigation and control sensors218 can include, for example, one or more infra-red sensors, gyroscopes,accelerometers, air flow meters, barometric sensors, vibrationalsensors, electromechanical sensors, sensors that measure force, sensorsthat measure weight, and other sensors that may be utilized to measurephysical movement, physical impact, distance, speed, direction,orientation (angle, rotation) and time. In another embodiment, one ormore sensors that generate data concerning the positions of the steeringwheel, one or more tires and/or steering column, and/or one or moresensors that read or utilize the data generated by the on-boardspeedometer an also be used by the navigation and driving system tonavigate the ADV along a predetermined route. Navigation and controlsensors 218 can also include sensors that detect roadway conditions(e.g., mud, water, snow, ice, potholes, gratings, uneven pavement,gravel, grass, lack of pavement, etc.) and the data generated by thesesensors 218 can be used by on-board computer 204 via navigation anddriving mode system 306 to control and navigate the ADV in a manner thatis determined to be safe depending upon the sensed condition. Navigationand control sensors 218 that can be utilized to detect roadwayconditions are vibration sensors, cameras, heat sensors, temperaturesensors, moisture sensors, or any other sensor or sensors that cangenerate data that is indicative of a navigational pathway.

The navigation and driving mode system 306 can also use navigation andcontrol sensors 218 to avoid obstacles along the route such as othervehicles, road obstructions (safety cones, construction, debris, etc.),pedestrians, hanging obstructions (e.g., bridges, tree limbs, lightfixtures, etc.) and the like to safely navigate the ADV along a route.In this embodiment, navigation and control sensors can be one or moreelectromagnetic energy sensors such as radar and/or lidar, or one ormore acoustic sensors such as, for example, sonar sensors, cameras thatare used to detect traffic lights, stop signs, and any other structureor device intended to visually communicate information, or anycombination of navigation and control sensors 218 described hereinintended to effectively navigate the ADV along a route. The sensor datagenerated by one or more the aforementioned radar, lidar and/or sonarsensors described herein is used by the navigation and driving system todetermine the distance of the relevant object from the ADV and navigatethe ADV around the same if an action is required. The on-board computer204 uses the continuously updated location information of the ADV andthe sensor data generated from the navigation and control sensors 218 tonavigate and control the ADV safely and effectively along apredetermined route in a manner such that the speed of the ADV iscontinuously monitored and controlled, the direction and orientation ofthe ADV is continuously monitored and controlled, traffic signs andwarning signs are sensed and obeyed, and obstacles that are presentalong the route are safely negotiated by taking on more actions thatsafely avoid the obstacle (e.g., stopping the vehicle, going around theobstacle, increasing or decreasing the speed of the ADV, making the ADVperform a U-turn, or some other course of action to safely avoid theobstacle) while continuing to navigate the ADV to a geographicalpredetermined destination identified on a route generated by theon-board computer 204.

To assist border security personnel in identifying items that will betransported across a secure border, the ADV navigation system 200includes content sensors 220. Content sensors 220 can include, in one ormore embodiments, a camera device and/or a transducer device thatconverts the force of weight into electrical signals that can beprocessed by CPU 302 utilizing content ID and monitoring system 322 todetermine the weight of each item occupying a relevant ADV. In thisexample, each of the suitcases, bags, backpacks, and/or other containersutilized to carry one or more items are imaged using one or more cameraimage sensor devices 220 and weighed using one or more transducerdevices 220. The CPU 302 utilizing the content ID and monitoring system322 associates each item with a unique ID, an image, and a weight totalsuch that all of the following can be continuously updated if any ofthis data changes and continuously transmitted to a relevant bordersecurity agency 650 via a network 608 or via one or more nodes 502 usingtechniques described herein. Similarly, once an item is selected to beplaced in one or more containers or, as the case may be, placed in theADV without utilizing a container, each item is imaged and weighed,given a unique identification and processed in the same manner as thecontainers. In these examples, any discrepancy in the weightmeasurements anywhere along the route or any concerning images of itemstransported within an ADV can be utilized to make a determination as towhether a heightened security screening of the ADV is warranted.

In one or more embodiments, each ADV configured for cross securityborder travel may also be equipped with content sensor devices 220 thatutilize magnetic induction tomography (MIT or electromagnetic inductionimaging (EII)) sensor devices to obtain images of items enclosed withincontainers. These sensor devices 220 are non-radiating active sensorsthat do not utilize harmful radiation. In one or more embodiments, EIIsensors 220 utilize eddy current density and the resultant secondaryfield to by applying an oscillating magnetic field to objects. Theelectromagnetic properties of the item to be imaged will determine thecharacteristics of the eddy current density and the secondary field. Inthis example, the CPU 302 will, via the content ID and monitoringsystem, map out the eddy current density by measuring the secondaryfield to obtain tomographic measurements constructed by varying thefrequency of the applied field and, thus, varying the depth ofpenetration of the field into the item to be imaged. Weapons and otherharmful devices may be detected using these aforementioned and othertechniques. The processed images can be transmitted to a relevant bordersecurity agency 650 to utilize in its determination to re-route therelevant ADV and impose heightened security screening measures.

One embodiment of the ADV 602 uses occupant sensors 208, described withreference to FIGS. 2A, 2B and 3, to generate data that is received byon-board computer 204 to monitor various aspects of the physiologicaland well-being of one or more occupants residing within the ADV via theoccupant physiological monitoring system 312. For example, the occupantsensors 208 can include sensors that measure one or more of anoccupant's blood glucose level, blood pressure, temperature, heart rate,pulse rate, electrocardiograph (ECG) patterns, respiration rate,respiration effectiveness (e.g., blood oxygen saturation). In oneembodiment, the occupant sensors 208 can be contact sensors, such aswearable devices that are attached to an ADV occupant. For example, thewearable device can include one or more contact sensors, embeddedmemory, a transceiver to transmit the sensor generated data to anon-board computer 204, and one or more processors to process thegenerated sensor data into measurements indicative of vital signs and/orphysiological information concerning the relevant ADV occupants. Theon-board computer 204 can be configured to receive the occupant sensordata from one or more occupant sensor 208 and utilize the occupantphysiological monitoring system 312 to process the generated sensor datainto measurements indicative of vital signs and/or physiologicalinformation concerning the relevant ADV occupants (physiologicalinformation), display information indicative of an ADV occupant'scurrent physiological state, transmit the generated or receivedphysiological information to one or more control and system nodes 502(described with reference to FIG. 5) for further processing, and/orfurther process the physiological information and perform otherfunctions with the measurements (e.g., re-route the ADV as describedherein). In another embodiment, the occupant sensors can be contactlesssensors that generate sensor data from contactless interaction with oneor more occupants residing within the ADV and transmit the sensor datato the occupant physiological monitoring system to process the data intomeasurements and perform other functions with the measurements. In stillanother embodiment, the occupant sensors may be a combination of bothwearable and contactless sensors.

To assist border security personnel in identifying one or more ADVoccupants, the identification of one or more persons that will occupythe ADV when it will be autonomously navigated upon navigable pathwaysacross one or more secured borders can be transmitted wirelessly to therelevant border control agency 650. In one embodiment, occupant sensors208 can be one or more camera devices and one or more scanner devicesthat may be utilized to capture image data and document data to assistin establishing the identification of the one or more ADV occupants. Theon-board computer 204 can be configured to receive the occupant sensordata from one or more occupant sensor 208 and utilize the occupant ADVidentification image data via occupant ID system 320 to process thegenerated sensor data and generate images indicative of photographs andhigh-definition images concerning the relevant ADV occupants (imageidentification information), transmit the generated or received imageidentification information to one or more control and system nodes 502(described with reference to FIG. 5) for further processing, and/orfurther transmission to a relevant border security agency to performadditional functions (e.g., re-route the ADV as described herein).

For example, a person's social security card, birth certificate,passport, driver's license, and/or other forms of identificationincluding government issued identification (i.e., identificationdocuments), can be imaged using one or more camera devices and/orscanner devices 208 such that the data can be processed by occupant IDsystem 320 and stored in the storage device 314 and/or wirelesslytransmitted via network 608 to the relevant border control agency 650.In one or more embodiments, these identification documents may bewirelessly transmitted to one or more nodes 502 that can, in turn,transmit the same automatically or upon request to a border agency 650.If documents are utilized to establish the identity of the ADVoccupants, camera image data may also be utilized and transmitted inreal time to a border agency 650 using methods described herein toverify that the documents and the image data generated by the otheroccupant sensors 608 match (e.g., photographs and facial recognitiondata).

In one or more embodiments, occupant sensors 208 may utilize biometricidentification techniques to both identify individual ADV occupants anddetermine if a heightened security screening should be requested. Forexample, in one or more embodiments, one or more sensors 208 utilizepassive screening which captures the natural radiation emitted byindividual ADV occupant bodies and analyzes the same to generate animage that can be utilized to verify an ADV occupant's identification.In these examples, the sensors 208 can include a passive millimeter wavescanner (mmW scanner) which is a scanner that is utilized to image aperson's body for detecting objecting concealed underneath a person'sclothing (e.g., a person's body, weapons, mobile devices, etc.). The mmWscanners 208 can be passive sensor devices that create images using onlyambient radiation emitted from an individual ADV occupant. In thisexample, the CPU 302 is programmed utilizing the occupant ID andmonitoring system 322 to process the captured sensor data and generatethe image that can be compared to other data to confirm the identity ofan ADV occupant or used to identify one or more items on the ADVoccupant's person. One or more of these images can be transmitted to arelevant border security agency 650 using techniques described herein tobe used to verify the identification of one or more ADV occupants. Inother examples, occupant sensors 208 can irradiate ADV occupants withx-rays or millimeter waves, transmit the same to the CPU 302 such thatthe received image data (i.e., the scattered radiation reflected from anADV occupant's body) can be analyzed via the occupant ID system 320 togenerate one or more images that can be utilized to verify an occupant'sidentification using techniques described herein. These biometricsensors 208 can also be utilized to search for metallic weapons that areworn on a person such that border security agencies can determine if oneor more ADV occupants are carrying weapons across secure borders (e.g.,international borders).

In one or more embodiments, occupant sensors 208 can include othersensors for verifying an ADV occupant's identity that include smartcards that include embedded chips and/or processors that may be utilizedto verify an occupant's identity. In other embodiments, sensors 208 caninclude finger print scanner/reader devices, palm print scanner/readersdevices, hand geometry scanner/reader devices, wrist and hand veinpattern scanner/reader devices, facial pattern recognitionscanner/reader devices, signature and/or handwriting analysisscanner/reader devices, voice recognition using a microphone (notshown), iris scanner/reader devices, and/or retina scanner/readerdevices. For example, facial recognition sensor devices take pictures ofADV occupants' faces while they reside are in the imaging area of thesensor 208. In this example, one or more sensors 208 may utilize facialrecognition to analyze the characteristics of an ADV occupant's faceimages input through a digital video camera 208 to measure the overallfacial structure, including one or more distances between eyes, nose,mouth, and jaw edges, width of the nose, depth of the eye sockets,length of the jaw line and shape of the cheekbones. These measurementscan be generated by CPU 302 utilizing occupant ID system 320 such thatall of these measurements can be processed. For example, in one or moreembodiments, a unique code is generated that is based upon one or moreof these measurements that is unique to each individual scanned. Inthese examples, the code and/or the image can be retained in a database656 (see FIG. 6B) and used as a comparison to another type of image orinformation when an ADV occupant is navigating a current route across asecure border to verify the identity of the ADV occupant.

In one embodiment, described with respect to FIG. 2B, one or more ADVoccupants can wear one more occupant sensors 208 that are configured asan ADV wearable occupant sensor device 250 and one or more accompanyingwearable sensor devices 270 to generate information that can be utilizedto determine a physiological state of an ADV occupant at any time duringa trip, information that may be taken into account by a border securityagency 650 to determine if a heightened security screening should berequested. For example, an ADV wearable occupant sensor device 250 canbe worn by itself, or in combination with one or more accompanyingwearable sensor devices 270 that are configured to transmit sensory dataand/or other physiological information, depending upon the state metric(e.g., vital sign, physiological state, etc.) to be measured, to thewearable occupant sensor 250. It is to be appreciated that occupantsensor device 250 is configured to work alone to monitor, capture andtransmit sensory data and physiological data to an ADV on-board computer204, and/or support a set of one or more wearable sensor devices 270 inmonitoring and transmitting sensory data and other physiological datacaptured by wearable sensor devices 270 to an ADV on-board computer 204for further processing. In one embodiments, wearable occupant sensor 250is configured to be a watch that can be disposed on an occupant's wristto monitor and store physiological sensory data using one or more of itssensors 258 and its memory 252. Either or both of the wearable occupantsensor 250 and the set of wearable sensor devices 270 can be configuredas a wrist band, ring, ankle accessory, headband, glove, arm band, orsensing strip to be secured adhesively to an occupant's appendage orbody surface.

In one embodiment, wearable sensor device(s) 270 includes a memory 278that may be utilized to store data indicative of an ADV occupant'sphysiological state. In one or more embodiments, wearable sensordevice(s) 270 is configured as a pass through device that transmits thesensor data to one or more wearable occupant sensor devices 250, ordirectly to an on-board computer 204 for processing via occupant statemonitoring system 312. The measured sensory physiological data and/orsensor generated data is transmitted to an ADV on-board computer 204that is communicatively coupled to occupant sensor device 250 via one ormore interfaces 260. Occupant sensor device 250 can also include adisplay 254, one or more physiological monitoring modules 256, one ormore sensors 258, and one or more processors 251 that, for example, 1)receive data from the one or more sensors 258, 2) execute instructionsaccording to the one or more physiological monitoring modules 256, 3)generate physiological information utilizing the one or morephysiological monitoring modules 256, 4) receive information and datafrom a GUI that is part of a display device 254, and/or 5) transmitphysiological information and data to the on-board computer 204utilizing one or more transceivers. The occupant sensor device 250includes one or more input/output interfaces that enable thecommunication of data over a wired or wireless network to an ADVon-board computer 204. For example, wearable occupant sensor device 250and ADV wearable physiological sensors 270 may include one or moreinput/output interfaces 260 and 276, respectively, that includetransceivers that are configured to both communicate with one anotherand/or an ADV on-board computer 204 via their compliance with one ormore various standards that use wireless communication methods proposedby the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), such asIEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15, IEEE 802.16, and IEEE 802.20. IEEE 802.11 is aset of standard specifications for wireless networks, such as wirelessLAN and wireless LAN including one portion of Infrared Communication andso on. IEEE 802.15 is a set of standard specifications for wirelessPersonal Area Network (PAN) including Bluetooth, UWB, ZigBee, and so on.It is to be appreciated that IEEE 802.16 is a set of standardspecifications for wireless Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) (BroadbandWireless Access (BWA)) including Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and so on.IEEE 802.20 is a set of mobile Internet standard specifications forwireless MAN (Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA)), just to name afew for exemplary purposes. In another embodiment, both occupant sensordevice 250 and wearable physiological sensors 270 are configured totransmit, via one or more I/O interfaces 260, physiological sensory dataand other information to an ADV on-board computer 204 using one or morewireless standards provided herein or through wired communication, forexample wireless and wired USB standards, or use mesh transceivers tocommunicate over a mesh network with one another and on-board computer204.

As will be described herein with reference to FIG. 2B, either one orboth the occupant sensor device 250 and one or more wearablephysiological sensors 270 can include one or more sensors 258, 272 formonitoring physiological sensory data and/or detecting one or morephysiological conditions and/or various physiological states of anoccupant. It is to be understood that because each of the physiologicalmonitoring sensors 208 discussed herein can include one or more ofwearable physiological sensors 270 and/or one or more occupant wearablesensor devices 250, in each instance where a particular sensor isdiscussed in relation to the occupant sensor device 250, the discussionis also directed to each of the one or more wearable physiologicalsensors 270.

In one embodiment, both the occupant sensor device 250 and set ofwearable physiological sensors 270 are configured to continuouslytransmit the sensed data of one or more occupants at predeterminedtemporal intervals to an ADV on-board computer 204 once the device 250and one or more sensors 270 are activated. In one or more examples, aborder security agency can transmit a request to receive sensory dataand physiological data concerning one or more ADV occupants at any timeduring a trip (e.g., within 10 miles of the border the agency issecuring). In this example, one or more occupant sensor device(s) 250and/or wearable physiological sensors 270 will detect and generatephysiological data and transmit the same to on-board computer 204 todetermine the physiological state of the relevant ADV occupant(s) andtransmit the same to the border security agency via network 608. In oneembodiment, the request for physiological data will be transmitted toone or more control and system nodes 502 that reside within ADV network610, the request including the ADV identification (e.g., informationthat identifies the individual ADV vehicle 602 and which may alsoinclude the names and/or other identifying information of the one moreADV occupants and details concerning the trip). In this example, therequested information can be transmitted to the border agency directlyfrom the relevant ADV vehicle 602 via network 608, or transmitted fromADV 602 to one or more control and system nodes 502 which, in turn, willtransmit the requested information to the requesting border securityagency. The requested and transmitted information can be configured in aform for easy processing, such as a document, spreadsheet, or any otherformat required by a border security agency.

For example, in one embodiment, occupant wearable sensor device 250 caninclude one or more sensors 258 for detecting movement (or the lackthereof) including a GPS sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope or anyother type of motion sensor configured to generate sensor data that isindicative of movement. The lack of movement over a prolonged period oftime or ‘jerky’ movements of certain monitored body parts by an occupantsensor 250 or one or more wearable physiological sensors 270 mayindicate a physiological condition when the associated sensory datagenerated by one or more movement sensors is coupled with sensory datathat indicates the relevant ADV occupant's heart rate. The occupantsensors 208, including the wearable sensor 250 and/or one or morewearable physiological sensors 270, may be configured to use any type ofsensor configured to monitor stress, temperature, panic attacks, or anyof an ADV occupant's vital signs and use one or a combination of one ormore physiological metric measurements to confirm a currentphysiological state of the relevant ADV occupant.

In one embodiment, occupant wearable sensor device 250 can include aheart rate monitor that is configured to generate data concerning one ormore heart rate measurements sensed in real time. In this embodiment,the ADV on-board computer 204 includes an occupant physiologicalmonitoring system 312 that will be utilized to determine if, based uponthe heart rate and/or other sensory data the relevant ADV occupant iscurrently experiencing heightened stress levels, nervousness, a panicattack, stroke, a heart attack, and/or is within a physical state thatis approaching the same, all examples of an event. For example, the ADVon-board computer 204 and/or the occupant sensor device 250 willcalibrate itself upon initialization to determine a baseline restingheart rate and use the same to determine what is considered to be anormal range for the relevant ADV occupant. Once the sensory dataconcerning the occupant's heart rate is received by the on-boardcomputer 204, and/or the physiological monitoring module 256, the heartrate data will be processed to determine the necessary heart ratemeasurements of the relevant occupant. For example, the current heartrate of the relevant occupant may be compared with what has beendetermined to be a normal heart rate range via the initializationprocess, historical data that takes into account the relevant occupant'smetrics (e.g., sex, age, weight, race, height, etc.) and the healthyheart rates of person's with similar physical and/or physiologicaland/or emotional attributes, and/or any other data that can be used tosuggest the current state of the relevant ADV occupant when comparingthe data against the ADV occupant's current physiological measurements.

For example, in one or more embodiments, the vital signs that can bemeasured by occupant sensors 208 include blood pressure, temperature,pulse, respiration, oxygen saturation, and pain levels. In one or moreembodiments, the sensors 208 can be calibrated against historical datathat indicates certain normal ranges for adults of a certain age, sex,race, weight, height, etc. For example, historical data may indicate thefollowing: The normal ranges for blood pressure in adults are systolicpressure between 90 and 120 mm Hg (millimeters of mercury) and diastolicpressure between 60 and 80 mm Hg; The normal range for core temperaturesvaries from 97° F. to 99.6° F. (36.1° C. to 37.5° C.), with the averagebeing 98.6° F. (37° C.); The normal range for an adult pulse is 60 to100 bpm; The normal range for adult respirations is 12 to 20 breaths perminute; The normal SpO₂ range is between 96% and 100%; Pain is assessedusing a pain scale of 1 to 10 for adults and a scale that includes aseries of facial expressions for children. Using historical data andcurrent measurements, one or more sensors 208 may be calibrated todetermine the normal vital sign levels of one or more ADV occupants and,thereafter, utilize these calibrated levels to determine if an event hasbeen detected.

For example, a border security agency may want to check the currentphysiological condition of one or more ADV occupants. In this example,based upon the calibrations of the one or more occupant sensors 208, anon-board computer 204 may receive heart rate readings that are between88 and 100 bpm for an ADV occupant that was determined to have a normalheart rate at 80 bpm. If subsequent heart rate measurements continue toindicate these or similar higher heart rate readings for subsequenttemporal periods, and/or if the heart rate readings are analyzed incombination with other physiological sensor data (i.e., physicalagitation, nervousness, etc.), the cpu 302 is programmed via occupantstate monitoring system 312 to indicate that the relevant occupant ishaving a stressful episode, nervous condition, panic attack, anxietyattack or another condition that is indicative of the detected data(i.e., event) and transmit the same to the requesting border controlagency. All events and the sensor data associated with each event forone or more ADV occupants is logged and stored in storage device 314. Inone or more embodiments, the on-board computer 204 is automaticallyprogrammed to transmit event information to one or more control andsystem nodes 502 for further processing. In one or more embodiments,event information is automatically transmitted to a relevant bordersecurity agency. For example, event information can be transmitted uponthe occurrence of an event, within a predetermined distance of thesecured border, or at periodic times during a trip.

A border security agency may also check for medical conditions (whichare events) of one or more ADV occupants to determine if a heightenedscreening should be requested. For example, in the current example,based upon the calibrations of the one or more medical sensors, anon-board computer may receive a blood pressure reading that suddenlyexceeds 180/120 mm Hg. In one example, when this reading is compared toa normal range or threshold, described above, the onboard computer willindicate that an event (i.e., myocardial infarction (i.e., heartattack)) has been detected. In another example, when this reading iscompared to a normal range or threshold, described above, the onboardcomputer will compare this blood pressure reading to another taken apredetermined time later (e.g., 5 minutes or any other time period thatmay be utilized to affect the intended purpose of determining if anevent has been detected) and, if the measurement is still outside of apredetermined range or below/above a predetermined threshold, indicatethat an event has been detected. In still another example, the on-boardcomputer will use the elevated reading and wait for another confirmingmeasurement, such as chest pain (to be entered using a display 210 orusing a display 254 on an ADV wearable occupant sensor device 250),shortness of breath, back pain (to be entered using a display 210 orusing a display 254 on an ADV wearable occupant sensor device 250),difficulty speaking (to be monitored using a microphone (not shown)communicatively connected to the on-board computer), change in vision(to be entered using a display 210 or using a display 254 on an ADVwearable occupant sensor device 250), or any other one or more symptomsthat accompany a heart attack. An event (e.g., shock, bradycardia, heartattack, heart failure, etc.) may also be triggered if a relevant ADVoccupant's blood pressure is too low.

For example, if an ADV occupant does not have diabetes, historical dataand calibration data can indicate that, for one or more ADV occupants, afasting blood sugar level in the morning should be under 100 mg/dl, ablood sugar level before a meal should measure between 70-99 mg/dl, anda blood sugar level taken 2 hours after a meal (i.e., Postprandial)should have a measurement of less than 140 mg/dl. In one example, if anon-board computer determines, using one or more occupant sensors 208,that a relevant ADV occupant's blood sugar levels plummet to dangerouslevels such that hypoglycemia is present, the on-board computer candetermine that an event has been detected (i.e., hypoglycemia). Inanother example, if an on-board computer determines, using one or moreoccupant sensors 208, that a relevant ADV occupant's blood sugar levelshave spiked above 400 mg/d (22.2 mmol/L), the on-board computer candetermine that an event (e.g., Hyperglycemia, Hyperosmolar hyperglycemicstate (HHS), or Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA)) has been detected. In thisexample, one or more sensors 208 that can be utilized to measure bloodsugar levels may be configured as a patch. For example, a FreeStyleLibre™ by Abbott may be utilized. In another example, a sensor that usesone or more of an ADV occupant's fluids (e.g., sweat, tears, saliva,blood, etc.) can be utilized to measure blood sugar and/or or glucoselevels. One or more sensors that utilize light reflection, refractionand/or other light properties may be utilized to measure blood sugarand/or glucose levels.

As described in FIG. 4, data storage device 314 is utilized by on-boardcomputer 204 to retrievably store all of the sensor data generated byone or more ADV sensor including, for example, occupant sensors 208, ADVcontent sensors 220, navigation and control sensors 218, ADV referencesensors 216, and any other data generated by any sensor, module, device,system, etc. that is utilized by on-board computer 204 to effectivelyand safely navigate ADV 602 as described herein. Although notillustrated, in one or more embodiments, data storage device 314 alsostores the operating system for on-board computer 204, and one or moresystems utilized by on-board computer 204 to perform the respectivefunctionalities described herein, systems including the ADV referencesystem 304, navigation and driving mode system 306, dynamic routingsystem 308, mapping system 310, occupant physiological monitoring system312, and or occupant identification system 320. Data storage device 314is also configured to retrievably store mapping information associatedwith relevant geographical areas with which and within which the routinginformation (e.g., ADV geographical staring location(s) and geographicaldestination(s)) described herein is associated and geographicallyresides. In one or more embodiments, data storage device 314 may includeone or more databases and/or have access to one or more databases (e.g.,Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, relational database(s),multidimensional database(s), DB2, OLAP cube database(s),multidimensional online analytical processing (MOLAP), etc.). Asdescribed herein, one or more embodiments of the on-board computer 204includes an in-memory processing system configured to perform in-memoryprocessing utilizing one or more processors and one or more RAM devices(not shown) to store all of the relevant data required to navigate theADV and perform all of the functionality associated with on-boardcomputer 204 described herein. In another embodiment, the entirecontents of the data storage device 314 are retrievably stored in one ormore RAM devices for efficient accessibility by the CPU 302. In one ormore embodiments, CPU 302 can be one or more processors. In thisexample, one or more copies of all of the data stored in one more RAMdevices are also stored in data storage device 314. The storage device314 can be, for example, a non-volatile memory, read only memory (ROM),a flash memory, NAND flash memory and the like, or a magnetic diskdevice, such as a hard disk drive (HDD), and the like.

ADV control system nodes 502, as described with reference to FIGS. 5, 6Aand 6B, are configured as an ADV control system network 610 which ispart of an ADV control network platform 600. One more control systemnodes 502 that reside in ADV control system network 610 can be utilizedby an on-board computer 204 to navigate an ADV in various waysincluding, for example, generating mapping and routing information,assisting in monitoring one or more ADV occupants, and facilitatingcommunications with one or more border security agencies is describedherein reference to FIGS. 5 and 6B. As described with respect to FIGS.6A and 6B, one or more ADV control system nodes 502 may be configured ina ADV network service platform 600 that can be mapped to 1) a cloudnetwork 610 protected by a firewall and 2) a management network that canbe mapped to a public cloud network 608.

In one embodiment, mapping system 508, ADV reference system 510, routingsystem 512 and ADV occupant and content identification system 522 residein node memory data storage 504 and can be configured, for example, assoftware, software applications, executable instructions to be executedby CPU 514, etc. In one or more embodiments, CPU 514 can be one or moreprocessors. In one embodiment, storage system 506 included with ADVcontrol system node 502 may also include one or more one or moredatabases and/or have access to one or more databases (e.g., SQL server,MySQL, Oracle, etc.) that store mapping information concerning largegeographical areas, such as the United States, states within the U.S.,foreign countries and other large areas such as the North AmericanContinent, European Continent (e.g., geographical area that includesnavigable pathways that cross international borders that are accessibleby car). The map system 508 can retrieve mapping information fromstorage device 506 to generate one or more maps that include therelevant geographical areas of one or more routes generated by routingsystem 512 that may be utilized by one or more ADVs 602 to reach one ormore predetermined destinations. The mapping information also includesgeographical information and associated address information forstructures (e.g., houses, businesses, governmental agencies, etc.) andpoints of interest (i.e., tollways, bridges, airports, amusement parks,etc.).

The on-board computers 204 that reside in the ADVs are also configuredto receive mapping information and routing information, includingrouting instructions, from one or more nodes 502 that reside in the ADVnetwork 610 and utilize this information to automatically navigate therelevant ADV. In some embodiments, the ADV control and system node 502may reside on one or more (in the case of multiple nodes) applicationservers (not shown), and/or in a cloud network. Other configurations arewithin the scope of the present disclosure. With the aid of on-boardcomputer 204, one or more nodes 502 may transmit one or a series (i.e.,one or more) of navigable routes from the ADV's current position to oneor a series of predetermined destinations (e.g., destinations that canbe determined due to input by an ADV occupant utilizing a GUI (notshown), scheduled utilizing a laptop or desktop computer, received by anauthoritative agency, and/or received by one or more nodes 502). Therouting information can be utilized by one or more on-board computers204 residing in one or more ADVs 602 in each of their mapping, routegeneration and navigation activities described herein with reference toFIGS. 7-10C. Each of the routes generated and/or obtained along with anyinformation associated with each of the routes and/or navigable pathwaysincluded in any one of the routes may be stored in map storage database506 for retrieval by the mapping system 508, ADV reference system 510,routing system 512 and/or occupant and content identification system 522for use in assisting one or more ADVs.

In one or more embodiments, one or more nodes 502 that reside in ADVcontrol network 610 may use social networking to build and updatemapping information and routing information utilized to generatenavigational routes as described herein. For example, users maycommunicate with one or more nodes 502 and other components of the ADVcontrol network platform 600 (e.g., ADVs 602) using mobile devices 606over a network 608. Examples of mobile devices 606 include, but are notlimited to, mobile phones (e.g., a smartphone), personal digitalassistants, and tablet computers and other types of mobile devices 606are within the scope of the present disclosure. Mobile devices 606 maycommunicate with the ADV control network platform 600 via acommunication network 608. Examples of mobile devices 606 that may beused to communicate data and information concerning the navigation ofone or more ADVs over a network 608 include a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer (e.g., an iPad), a mobile or smart phone (e.g., an iPhone), asmartwatch (e.g., a Pebble E-Paper Watch), an augmented realityhead-mounted display (e.g., Google Glass), and so on.

As described herein, if an on-board computer 204 does not have enoughmapping information to generate a route from its current geographicalposition to an identified destination, either because the mappinginformation does not contain the current position of the ADV, theidentified destination of the ADV, or one or more navigable pathwaysthat are between the aforementioned current position and the identifieddestination, the on-board computer 204 may transmit a request to one ormore ADV control system nodes 502 that reside in the ADV control network610 to receive the required mapping information. For example, theon-board computer 204 may utilize the mapping system 310, the dynamicrouting system 308 and the ADV reference system 304 to use thetransmitted information to generate the current geographical position ofthe ADV, the identified geographical destination, and one or more routesto navigate the ADV along to reach the destination. In some embodiments,one or more ADV control system nodes 502 will determine the currentposition of the ADV, the identified destination of the ADV, one or morenavigable pathways that are between the aforementioned current positionand the identified destination, and generate one or more routes for theADV to reach the destination and transmit the same to the on-boardcomputer 204 for either use by and/or confirmation of the on-boardcomputer 204 generated information. In one embodiment, an ADV occupantor another user of the ADV system may enter a destination using a GUI ondisplay 210. In another embodiment, an ADV can be provided with one ormore destinations using one or more mobile devices 606 or via a desktopcomputer that transmits information to the ADV system network 610 thatincludes scheduling information (e.g., time, date, etc.), destinationinformation (address, etc.), and occupant ID information (name, age,address, etc.). In one or more embodiments, a relevant border agency cantransmit destination information and scheduling information to one ormore ADVs 602 directly to the one or more ADVs over network 608 or viaone or more control and system nodes 502 that reside in ADV platformnetwork 610. For example, destination information can be transmitted byone or more nodes 502 residing in the ADV network 610 to one or moreADVs that will, in turn, automatically generate routing information fromthe current location of the ADV and transport known ADV occupants to oneor more predetermined destinations. Additionally, the destination andscheduling information can be utilized by an on-board computer 204 toautomatically deliver the relevant ADV occupants to the predetermineddestination at a specific time (e.g., a relevant border agency facilityat a specific time) if possible under the time, navigational, speed andenvironmental constraints.

The ADV control system utilizing one or more control nodes 502 maydetermine the current position and/or a starting position of an ADV toassist in the generation of routing information in a similar manner asdescribed with the on-board computer 204 herein. For example, the ADVnetwork may utilize an ADV reference system 510, shown in FIG. 5,included within one or more control system nodes 502 to represents thelocation of the ADV on the Earth and, ultimately, on a map. For example,ADV reference system 510 can use a global-positioning system (GPS), theQuazi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), Beidou, Galileo, GlobalnayaNavigazionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema or Global Navigation SatelliteSystem (GLONASS), or any other system that is accurate enough todetermine the position of an ADV within time and distance constraintssuch that the position may both correlate with mapping information, becontinuously updated, and fall within certain positioning distances suchthat navigation of the vehicle can be safely achieved while maintainingthe accuracy of the routing information. In another embodiment, thestarting location may be transmitted via mobile devices 606, enteredusing a GUI included in display 210, or otherwise provided to anon-board computer 204.

As described herein, mobile devices 606 may be utilized within the ADVnetwork platform 600 to provide information about one or more navigablepathways by transmitting the same over a public network 608 to one ormore control system nodes 502 residing in the ADV network 610. Forexample, some of the mobile devices 606 are equipped with imagingsystems such that visual information (e.g., pictures, videos) may betransmitted to one or more nodes 502 or one or more on-board computers204 that reside in ADVs 602, or both. Utilizing the ADV reference system508 that resides in one or nodes 502, and the ADV reference system 304that resides within on-board computer 204, the image data may becompared with historical image data that resides in the storage system506 and/or the data storage 314 to determine the location of the imageinformation. Once the geographical location is determined, theinformation may be used to update route navigation times due tocircumstances surrounding the navigable pathways (i.e., accidents, roadobstructions, environmental occurrences, etc.), determine one or more ofa destination or a current position, or other information that affectsrouting and positioning. In some instances, the image data itself willinclude metadata that includes positioning and other information thatmay be utilized in a manner to determine and generate routing, mappingand route updating information. Historical information that can be usedto generate and determine information concerning positioning, routingand mapping of one or more of the ADVs is stored in storage system 506or other databases for retrieval by one or more nodes 502 to assist oneor more ADVs to navigate generated routes as described herein. Withrespect to FIGS. 6A and 6B, one or more ADV control system nodes may beconfigured in a ADV network service network that can be mapped to acloud network 610 protected by a firewall and a management network thatcan be mapped to a public cloud network 608.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart 700 that will be referenced to describe analgorithm for determining and generating a route R_(N) using an ADV'scurrent location to a predetermined destination D_(N) and autonomouslynavigate the ADV along the route R_(N) in accordance with oneembodiment. At step 702, the current geographical location of the ADV isidentified. In one embodiment, the on-board computer 204 utilizing theADV reference system 304 determines the current geographical position ofan ADV using techniques described herein. In another embodiment, one ormore control system nodes 502 that reside in the ADV network 610 may beutilized to determine the current geographical location of the ADV usingone or more techniques described herein. In another embodiment, one ormore mobile devices 606 may be utilized to determine the currentgeographical location of an ADV using one or more techniques describedherein.

At step 704, the on-board computer 204 receives data representing thepredetermined destination D_(N) that represents an ending point B anddetermines the associated geographical location of destination D_(N)utilizing mapping information generated by the mapping system 310. Asdescribed herein, the destination D_(N) may be 1) selected by an ADVoccupant or third-party (e.g., border security agency or othergovernmental or authoritative agency, authorized user of the ADVplatform 600), 2) transmitted to one or more nodes 502 using a mobiledevice or desktop computer and, thereafter, transmitted to the relevantADV, 3) entered into a display 210 by an ADV occupant utilizing a GUI(not shown), 4) transmitted using one or control and system nodes 502over a network 608 to on-board computer 204, and/or 5) otherwiseselected such that on-board computer 204 receives the destination D_(N).

At step 706, the onboard computer 204 utilizing the mapping system 310and the data storage 314 determines if there is enough information togenerate a route R_(N) from the starting point A to the predetermineddestination D_(N). As described herein, the mapping information is usedto determine the navigational pathways from a starting point A (e.g., apredetermined geographical location, or the current geographicallocation of the ADV) to the destination D_(N) so that a time T_(RN) thatrepresents the time that it will take the ADV to autonomously navigatethe ADV along the navigational pathways from the starting point to thedestination D_(N). Knowing the geographical positions of all of thenavigational pathways between starting point A to the predetermineddestination D_(N) allows the on-board computer 204 and/or one or morenodes 502 residing in the ADV network 610 to analyze historical dataand/or data transmitted in real time to determine if one or moreoccurrences (e.g., traffic, accident, environmental hazard, draw bridgeactivity, tollways, road work, etc.) will impede the ADV from navigatingone or more pathways included in the current route R_(N) to reach adestination D_(N) and thus impact the time T_(RN). Additionally,analyzing each of the navigable pathways with respect to the currentposition of the ADV, the current direction of the ADV and/or thedirection the ADV is traveling along a navigable pathway allows for amore reliable calculation of the time T_(RN). If the on-board computer204 determines that there is not enough information at step 706, asdescribed with reference to step 708, the on-board computer 204transmits a request to one or more control and system nodes 502 in theADV network to either 1) receive the necessary information to generatethe mapping information and/or the route R_(N), 2) receive both themapping information and the route R_(N), or 3) receive both 1) and 2)and use the information from 2) to confirm the mapping and/or routeinformation generated in 1). If the on-board computer 204 determinesthat there is enough information at step 706, the on-board computer 204generates a route R_(N) and a time T_(RN) at step 710 and automaticallyinitiates the route at step 712 to autonomously navigate the ADV to thedestination D_(N) from the ADV's current position.

In one embodiment, an on-board computer 204 and/or one or more of thesystem control nodes are programmed, via the dynamic routing system 308in case of the on-board computer 204 or via the routing system 512 incase of the one or more control nodes, to execute a dynamic routingalgorithm that utilizes artificial intelligence to continuously generatethe shortest temporal route from the ADV's current position to apredetermined destination D_(N) based upon information concerning thenavigable pathways in the relevant geographical region. The dynamicalgorithm will now be described with reference to FIG. 8. whichrepresents a flow chart of the algorithm. According to one embodiment,an ADV on-board computer 204 and/or one or more system control nodes 502are programmed to utilize a dynamic routing algorithm to perform dynamicrouting using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate and determine theshortest temporal route that an ADV will navigate from a geographicalstarting point (e.g., the current location of the ADV or anotherpredetermined geographical location) to a geographical ending point(e.g., a predetermined destination D_(N) or another predeterminedgeographical location). Depending upon the size of a geographical regionto be traversed and the amount of information gathered concerning thenavigable pathways within the geographical region collected, either asingle ADV can perform dynamic routing using artificial intelligence(AI) to generate a route R_(N+1), or an ADV system network 610 thatutilizes one or more ADV control system nodes 502 can be utilized by anon-board ADV computer to perform dynamic routing using artificialintelligence (AI) to generate a new route R_(N+1).

For example, if the on-board computer 204 determines that the mappinginformation stored in the data storage and generated utilizing themapping system does not contain enough information concerning any one ormore navigable pathways included in the new route R_(N+1), the on-boardcomputer 204 can communicatively couple to one or more control systemnodes 502 included in the ADV system network 610 via network 608 andreceive the required mapping information to generate a new route R_(N+1)and perform the dynamic routing algorithm. The dynamic routing algorithmis initialized utilizing the dynamic routing system concurrently withthe generation or the receipt of a route R_(N) or at any point duringthe navigation of the route R_(N) by the ADV. As described herein withreference to step 802, the on-board computer 204 determines the currentgeographical location of the ADV and the total time T_(RN) that it willtake from the ADV's current geographical location to reach the currentpredetermined location D_(N). As described with reference to step 804,the on-board computer 204 uses the reference system, the dynamic routingsystem and the mapping system and analyzes 1) the mapping informationgenerated by the mapping system, 2) data and/or other informationtransmitted to the on-board computer 204 over a network, 3) historicaldata stored in the on-board computer 204 data storage and/or the datastorage of one or more control system nodes 502 transmitted to theon-board computer 204, if available, to generate a number of alternativenavigable routes R_(A) from the ADV's current position to thepredetermined destination D_(N).

For example, in one embodiment the on-board computer 204 uses themapping system and the ADV reference system to automatically generate aset number of alternative routes R_(A) in addition to the current routeR_(N) when the route R_(N) is initially generated. The routes R_(A) maybe generated based upon a weighted system that utilizes time, distanceand/or navigable pathway conditions.

For example, in one embodiment, using the total navigable distanceassociated with a current route R_(N) measured from the ADV's currentposition on the route R_(N) to the current predetermined destinationD_(N), the on-board computer 204 can also generate a number (e.g., 5 N(which can be any number depending upon the number of routes availableand the available system processing resources)) of alternative routesR_(A) that are within (higher and lower) a navigable distance (e.g., ≤N≥(which can be a % of the reference navigable distance or some othernumber)) of the reference navigable distance (defined by the distancefrom the current location of the ADV to the predetermined geographicaldestination D_(N)).

Another embodiment generates a number of alternative routes R_(A) an ADVcan navigate from the ADV's current position to the predetermineddestination D_(N) as described in step 804 by using a weighting systemthat uses historical data that includes the average times required totraverse one or more known previously stored routes that align with ormost closely align with the current route R_(N). In this example, asdescribed herein with reference to step 802, each route R_(N) generatedor received by the on-board computer 204 or by one or more controlsystem nodes 502 has a total time value T_(RN) associated therewith thatis a temporal measure based upon the total distance of the route R_(N)and/or other information (e.g., current speed of the ADV, known averagespeed of vehicles one on or more navigable pathways within the route,historical information concerning time(s) to traverse the entire routeor one or more navigable pathways included therein, speed limit of oneor more navigable pathways within the route, roadway obstructions,accidents, conditions of one or more navigable pathways within theroute, time of day, day of the week, or any information that can be usedto determine the time to traverse the route R_(N)—e.g., navigablepathway information). For example, the time T_(RN) for the route R_(N)is continuously updated in the manner described herein and saved as theADV navigates current route R_(N) such that the T_(RN) represents acurrent theoretical temporal measure of the total time it will take theADV to reach the current destination D_(N) from the ADV's currentposition based upon the information described herein. In one embodiment,as described with respect to step 804, for each route R_(N) received orgenerated, a series of historical routes R_(H) are automaticallygenerated based upon certain criteria. For example, historical routesR_(H) that match or most closely match the route R_(N) are selected bycomparing the total time value T_(RN) with a total time value T_(RH)(total time to traverse a relevant historical route from the currentgeographical position of the ADV) that is similarly associated with eachR_(H) and determined in one or more ways consistent with that of timeT_(RN). In one embodiment, the on-board computer 204 and/or one or morecontrol system nodes 502 determines if the time T_(RH) is within apredetermined temporal range of time T_(RN). For example, the temporalrange may be any range (higher or lower) (e.g., ≤T_(RN)≥ (which can be a% of the reference navigable time T_(RN) or some other number)) as longas it is suitable to identify a number of relevant historical routesR_(H) for the purpose described herein. Each historical route R_(H) isselected from a repository of historically saved routes either stored inthe data storage 314 included in an on-board computer 204 and/or in thestorage system 506 of one or more control system nodes 502. As above, ifthe on-board computer 204 determines that the mapping information storedin the data storage 314 and generated utilizing the mapping system 310does not contain any one or more navigable pathways included in ahistorical route R_(H) or an alternative route R_(A), the on-boardcomputer 204 can communicatively couple to one or more control systemnodes 502 included in the ADV system network 610 and receive therequired mapping information to generate a historical route R_(H) or analternative route R_(A) and perform the dynamic routing algorithm. Ifstored on one or more control system nodes 502, the historical routesR_(H) may be transmitted to the on-board computer 204 for processing.Once a set of historical routes has been determined using one or moretechniques described herein and/or other known techniques, eachhistorical route R_(H) will be added to the list of alternative routesR_(A) and associated with a current route R_(N). In one embodiment, foreach route R_(A), a total time value T_(RA) that represents the totaltime to traverse the route R_(A) from the current geographical positionof the ADV that is similarly determined for the current route R_(N) inone or more ways described herein is currently updated and saved by theon-board computer 204 and/or the one or more control system nodes 502.In this manner, if T_(RA) for one or more of the alternative routesR_(A) is determined to be out of the range of acceptable temporalvalues, those one or more offending routes R_(A) will be discarded fromthe set of alternative routes R_(A).

In one embodiment, the on-board computer 204 can also rely uponinformation and data transmitted by one or more mobile devices 606 thatare connected to the ADV system platform 600 over a network 608 tocalculate, update and/or obtain information that may impact the totaltime value T_(RH) of one or more historical routes R_(H), total timevalue T_(A) of one or more alternative routes R_(A) and/or obtaininformation that may be utilized to calculate and/or update the T_(RN)for a route R_(N) upon which an ADV is currently navigating. Informationthat can be transmitted by one or more mobile devices 606 includes, forexample, average speed of vehicles on one or more navigable pathwaysthat are included within one or more of the routes R_(N), R_(H) and/orR_(A), historical information concerning time(s) to traverse theentirety of one or more of the routes R_(N), R_(H) and/or R_(A) or oneor more navigable pathways included within any one or more of the routesR_(N+1), R_(H) and/or R_(A), speed limit of one or more navigablepathways within any one or more of the routes R_(N+1), R_(H) and/orR_(A), roadway obstructions, accidents, conditions of one or morenavigable pathways within any one or more of the routes R_(N), R_(H)and/or R_(A), time of day, day of the week, or any information that canbe used to determine and/or update the measurements of the times T_(A),T_(H) and/or T_(RN) to traverse the routes R_(A), R_(H) and/or R_(N). Inthis example, that will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A-6B, themobile devices 606 will connect to one or more control system nodes 502over a network 608 and transmit information to the one or more nodesusing ADV system platform 600. An on-board computer 204 cancommunicatively connect to one or more control system nodes 502 over anetwork 608 such that the relevant information can be transmitted fromone or more nodes 502 residing in the network 610 to an on-boardcomputer 204. In this embodiment, users of mobile devices 606 that areconnected to the ADV system network 610 via a network 608 can transmitinformation concerning any of the navigable pathways included in theroutes R_(A), R_(H) and/or R_(N).

As described in step 806, after the set of alternative routes R_(A) hasbeen determined with respect to step 804, each alternative route R_(A)included in the set of alternative routes R_(A) is analyzed to determineif any pre-determined restrictions will cause one or more alternativeroutes R_(A) to be discarded from the set of available alternativeroutes R_(A). For example, once the set of routes R_(A) have beengenerated, the on-board computer 204 can take into account any rules orpredetermined conditions that must be met to select one of the routes inthe set R_(A) as the new current route R_(N+1). The on-board computer204 is programmed to select the shortest temporal pathway R_(Q) from theset of alternative routes R_(A) that meet one or more predeterminedconditions, wherein R_(Q) represents the route that will take theshortest amount of time for the ADV to traverse from the ADV's currentposition to the predetermined destination D_(N) (the shortest temporalroute) determined from the set of qualifying alternative routes R_(A).As described in step 806, these predetermined conditions may includeconditions that are associated with 1) roadway conditions that exists onone or more navigable pathways included in a relevant R_(A), 2) tollwaysor other monetary entities that condition travel on some sort of paymentsystem that that exists on one or more navigable pathways included in arelevant R_(A), 3) environmental conditions that exists on one or morenavigable pathways included in a relevant R_(A), 4) accidents or otherobstructions that exists on one or more navigable pathways included in arelevant R_(A), or 5) any other condition or occurrence that exists onone or more navigable pathways included in a relevant R_(A) that willimpede an efficient and/or expedient form of travel. In one embodiment,as described with reference to step 806, the on-board computer 204 isprogrammed to select alternative routes R_(A) that avoid certaingeographical artifacts that are found along the navigable pathwaysand/or the relevant geographical region, artifacts including, forexample, one or more of city streets, tolls, lights, bridges, highways,street cameras, structures, identified accidents or traffic jams,locations, etc. that may exists and are identifiable geographicallywithin the relevant geographical area that includes one or morenavigable pathways included in the set of alternative routes R_(A).According to step 806, for any alternative routes R_(A) that do not meetany one or more of the predetermined conditions described herein withreference to step 806, the on-board computer 204 will discard the one ormore alternative routes from the set of alternative routes R_(A) todetermine of the set R_(Q) of qualifying alternative routes R_(Q).

Once the on-board computer 204 has identified the set of qualifyingalternative routes R_(Q), the on-board computer 204 determines the timeT_(RQ) for each qualifying route R_(Q), wherein T_(RQ) for each routeR_(Q) represents the total time to traverse the route R_(Q) from thecurrent geographical position of the ADV as described in step 808. Thetime T_(RQ) for each qualifying route R_(Q) is determined in a mannersimilar to that of T_(RN) determined for the current route R_(N) and/orin one or more ways described herein. Once the set of qualifying routesR_(Q) is determined, the time T_(RQ) for each qualifying route R_(Q) iscontinuously updated and saved by the on-board computer 204 and/or theone or more control system nodes 502. With respect to step 808, inresponse to on-board determining the time T_(RQ) for each qualifyingroute R_(Q), the on-board computer 204 determines the current locationof the ADV and, with respect to the current location, determines whichtime T_(RQ) for each of the qualifying routes R_(Q) represents theshortest time, and sets the qualifying route that is associated with theshortest T_(RQ) as route R_(QT). In this example, route R_(QT)represents the shortest temporal path of all of the qualifying routesR_(Q) in the set of qualifying routes R_(Q) from the current position ofthe ADV to the predetermined destination D_(N). As described in step808, the on-board computer 204 determines the time T_(Qt) for shortesttemporal path route R_(Qt), wherein T_(Qt) for the route R_(Qt)represents the total time to traverse the shortest temporal path R_(Qt)from the current geographical position of the ADV to the predetermineddestination D_(N). The time T_(Qt) for the shortest temporal path R_(Qt)is continuously updated and saved by the on-board computer 204 and/orthe one or more control system nodes 502.

As described in step 810, in response to the on-board computer 204determining the time T_(Qt) for the shortest temporal path R_(Qt), thetime T_(Qt) for the shortest temporal path R_(Qt) is compared to thetime T_(RN) for the current route R_(N). If the time T_(Qt) for thecurrent geographical position of the ADV is less than the time T_(RN)for the current route R_(N), then the on-board computer 204 will set theroute R_(QT) as the new route R_(N+1) and automatically reroute the ADVto autonomously navigate the new route R_(N+1) as described herein. Oncethe new route R_(N+1) is set, the dynamic routing algorithm will cycleback to step 802, set R_(N)=R_(N+1) and continuously cycle through thedynamic routing algorithm that utilizes artificial intelligence toautomatically navigate the ADV as described herein until the ADV reachesits predetermined destination D_(N). For example, in response to R_(N)being updated to R_(N+1), the on-board computer 204 will determine thetime T_(RN+1) for new route R_(N+1), wherein time T_(RN+1) representsthe total time to traverse the route R_(N+1) from the currentgeographical position of the ADV, as described in step 802. Thereafter,the dynamic routing algorithm will use artificial intelligence asdescribed herein to automatically navigate the ADV by continuouslygenerating alternative routes R_(A) in real-time, determine if any ofthose alternative routes represent a shorter temporal route to thecurrent route the ADV is autonomously navigating, and automaticallyredirect the autonomous vehicle to navigate another alternative route(e.g., new route R_(N+2) if the preceding route was route R_(N+1) andthe current destination was D_(N)) if the new route meets predeterminedconditions and is a shorter temporal route than the current route theADV is navigating.

For example, as described in step 812, if the time T_(Qt) for thecurrent geographical position of the ADV is equal to or more than thetime T_(RN) for the current route R_(N), then the on-board computer 204will discard route R_(QT), go back to step 804 and autonomously navigatethe ADV along the current route R_(N) while continuously cycling throughthe dynamic routing algorithm to generate alternative routes anddetermine if an alternative route meets the predetermined conditions andis a shorter temporal route than the current route the ADV is navigatinguntil the ADV reaches its predetermined destination D_(N), as describedherein. In the above embodiments, the on-board computer 204, one or morecontrol system nodes 502 or a combination of both can perform thedynamic routing algorithm that utilizes artificial intelligence toautomatically navigate an ADV in real time as described herein.

In one embodiment, either the on-board computer 204 or one or more nodes502 will generate the set of alternative routes RA. For example, if anADV is required to navigate road A, road B, road C and road D from itscurrent position to reach a predetermined destination DN, then the ADVon-board computer 204 will monitor its data storage 314 and/or thestorage system 506 of one or more control system nodes 502 to determineif there is any current and relevant information concerning road A, roadB, road C and/or road D that will impact the navigable time T_(RN). Ifthere exists an event that will impact the navigable time T_(RN) for thecurrent route, either the on-board computer 204 or one or more nodes 502will generate a new navigable time T_(RN+1) that will take the eventinto account. Similarly, if an alternative route R_(A) or a historicalroute R_(H) includes road G, road H, road I, and road J which representnavigable pathways that an ADV can navigate to reach the currentdestination D_(N) from its current geographical position along one ormore alternative routes, the ADV on-board computer 204 will monitor itsdata storage and/or the storage system 506 of one or more control systemnodes 502 to determine if there is any current and relevant informationconcerning road G, road H, road I, and/or road J that will impact thenavigable time T_(RA) or T_(RH) and update the same on the on-boardcomputer 204. In this example, the on-board computer 204 can determineif the information received from devices on the ADV system platform 600or the data storage system included in one or more control system nodes502 is current using a time/date stamp (e.g., time of storing, receipt,transmittal, capture, etc.) associated with the information. Forexample, the on-board computer 204 can determine if a time/date stampassociated with the information is within a predetermined time range Xfrom the current time. For example, the on-board computer 204 candetermine if the information is relevant and if the information impactsa time required to traverse one or more roads A-D or an event thataffects one or more measured times T_(RN), T_(RH), T_(RA), T_(Q) and orT_(Qt), as described herein using the dynamic routing algorithmdescribed with respect to FIG. 8 herein.

The on-board computer 204, utilizing the dynamic routing system, mappingsystem and the positioning system can re-route an ADV from its currentgeographical position on the current route R_(N) to a newly determinedgeographical destination included in the new route R_(N+1) by executingthe dynamic re-routing algorithm described with reference to theflowchart illustrated in FIG. 9. Similarly to the routing algorithmdescribed with reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 8, thedynamic algorithm described with reference to FIG. 9 utilizes artificialintelligence to enable an on-board computer 204 to perform dynamicre-routing to, while the ADV is traversing the current route R_(N),generate a new route R_(N+1) and automatically re-route an ADV from itscurrent geographical position on the current route R_(N) to a newlydetermined geographical destination D_(N+1) included in the new routeR_(N+1). The on-board computer 204 and/or one or more of the systemcontrol nodes 502 are programmed via the dynamic routing system in caseof the on-board computer 204 or the routing system in case of the one ormore control nodes 502 to execute a dynamic routing algorithm thatutilizes artificial intelligence to continuously generate the shortesttemporal route from the ADV's current position to a new destinationD_(N+1) based upon information concerning the navigable pathways in therelevant geographical region. The dynamic re-routing algorithm will nowbe described with reference to FIG. 9.

In this embodiment at step 902, while the ADV is autonomously navigatingroute R_(N) to reach predetermined geographical destination D_(N), theon-board computer 204 receives or generates a new destination D_(N+1).Similar to the original destination D_(N), a new destination D_(N+1) canbe generated or received by the on-board computer 204 which will, inturn, cause the on-board computer 204 to generate a new route R_(N+1)from the ADV's current geographical position to the new geographicaldestination and determine the total time T_(RN+1) that it will take fromthe ADV's current geographical location to reach the new destinationD_(N+1). Depending upon the size of a geographical region to betraversed from the ADV's current position to the new destination D_(N+1)and the amount of relevant available information concerning thenavigable pathways within the geographical region that contains the newroute R_(N+1), either a single ADV on-board computer 204 can performdynamic re-routing using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate a newroute R_(N+1), or an ADV system network 610 that utilizes one or moreADV control system nodes 502 can be utilized by the on-board ADVcomputer 204 to perform dynamic routing using artificial intelligence(AI) to generate a new route R_(N+1). For example, similar to thedynamic routing algorithm described above with reference to FIG. 8, ifthe on-board computer 204 determines that the mapping information storedin the data storage and generated utilizing the mapping system does notcontain any one or more parts of the new route R_(N+1), the on-boardcomputer 204 can communicatively couple to one or more control systemnodes 502 included in the ADV system network 610 and receive therequired mapping information to generate a new route R_(N+1) and performthe dynamic re-routing algorithm. The dynamic re-routing algorithm canbe initialized utilizing the dynamic routing system concurrently withthe generation or the receipt of a new route R_(N+1) or at any pointduring the navigation of the route R_(N) by the ADV when a newdestination D_(N+1) is generated or received. As described herein withreference to step 902, the on-board computer 204 determines the currentgeographical location of the ADV and the total time T_(RN+1) that itwill take from the ADV's current geographical location to reach the newdestination D_(N+1).

As described with reference to step 904, after the on-board computer 204generates the new route R_(N+1), on-board computer 204 uses thereference system, the dynamic routing system and the mapping system andanalyzes 1) the mapping information generated by the mapping system, 2)data and/or other information transmitted to the on-board computer 204over a network, and/or 3) historical data stored in the on-boardcomputer 204 data storage and/or the data storage of one or more controlsystem nodes 502 transmitted to the on-board computer 204, if available,to generate a number of alternative navigable routes R_(A) from theADV's current position to the new destination D_(N+1). For example, inone embodiment the on-board computer 204 may use the mapping system andthe ADV reference system to automatically generate a set number ofalternative routes R_(A) in addition to the new route R_(N+1) when thenew route R_(N+1) is initially generated. The routes R_(A) may begenerated based upon a weighted system that utilizes time, distanceand/or navigable pathway conditions.

For example, in one embodiment, using the total navigable distanceassociated with a new route R_(N+1) measured from the ADV's currentposition on the new route R_(N+1) to the new destination D_(N+1), theon-board computer 204 can also generate a number (e.g., 5 N (which canbe any number depending upon the number of routes available and theavailable system processing resources)) of alternative routes R_(A) thatare within (higher and lower) a navigable distance (e.g., 5 N (which canbe a % of the reference navigable distance or some other number)) of thereference navigable distance (defined by the distance from the currentlocation of the ADV to the new geographical destination D_(N+1)).

Another embodiment generates a number of alternative routes R_(A) an ADVcan navigate from the ADV's current position to the new destinationD_(N+1) as described in step 904 by using a weighting system that useshistorical data that includes the average times required to traverse oneor more known previously stored routes that align with or most closelyalign with the new route R_(N+1). In this example, as described hereinwith reference to step 902, each new route R_(N+1) generated or receivedby the on-board computer 204 or by one or more control system nodes 502has a total time value T_(RN+1) associated therewith that is atheoretical measure based upon the total distance of the new routeR_(N+1) and/or other information (e.g., current speed of the ADV, knownaverage speed of vehicles one on or more navigable pathways within theroute, historical information concerning time(s) to traverse the entireroute or one or more navigable pathways included therein, speed limit ofone or more navigable pathways within the route, roadway obstructions,accidents, conditions of one or more navigable pathways within theroute, time of day, day of the week, or any information that can be usedto determine the time to traverse the new route R_(N+1)). For example,the time T_(RN+1) for the new route R_(N+1) is continuously updated inthe manner described herein and saved as the ADV navigates new routeR_(N+1) such that the time T_(RN+1) represents a current temporalmeasure of the total time it will take the ADV to reach the newdestination D_(N+1) from the ADV's current position based upon theinformation described herein. In one embodiment, as described withrespect to step 904, for each new route R_(N+1) received or generated, aseries of historical routes R_(H) are automatically generated based uponcertain criteria. For example, historical routes R_(H) that match ormost closely match the new route R_(N+1) are selected by comparing thetotal time value T_(RN+1) with a total time value T_(RH) (total time totraverse a relevant historical route from the current geographicalposition of the ADV) that is similarly associated with each R_(H) anddetermined in one or more ways consistent with that of T_(RN+1). In oneembodiment, the on-board computer 204 and/or one or more control systemnodes 502 determines if the T_(RH) is within a predetermined temporalrange of T_(RN+1). For example, the temporal range may be any range(higher or lower) (e.g., ≤T_(RN+1)≥ (which can be a % of the referencenavigable time T_(RN+1) or some other number)) as long as it is suitableto identify a number of relevant historical routes R_(H) for the purposedescribed herein. Each historical route R_(H) is selected from arepository of historically saved routes either stored in the datastorage 314 included in an on-board computer 204 and/or in the storagesystem 506 of one or more control system nodes 502. As above, if theon-board computer 204 determines that the mapping information stored inthe data storage 314 and generated utilizing the mapping system 310 doesnot contain any one or more navigable pathways included in a historicalroute R_(H) or an alternative route R_(A), the on-board computer 204 cancommunicatively couple to one or more control system nodes 502 includedin the ADV system network 610 and receive the required mappinginformation to generate a historical route R_(H) or an alternative routeR_(A) and perform the dynamic routing algorithm. If stored on one ormore control system nodes 502, the historical routes R_(H) may betransmitted to the on-board computer 204 for processing. Once a set ofhistorical routes has been determined using one or more techniquesdescribed herein and/or other known techniques, each historical routeR_(H) will be added to the list of alternative routes R_(A) andassociated with a new route R_(N+1). In one embodiment, for each routeR_(A), a total time value T_(RA) that represents the total time totraverse the route R_(A) from the current geographical position of theADV that is similarly determined for the new route R_(N+1) in one ormore ways described herein is currently updated and saved by theon-board computer 204 and/or the one or more control system nodes 502.In this manner, if T_(RA) for one or more of the alternative routesR_(A) is determined to be out of the range of acceptable temporalvalues, those one or more offending routes R_(A) will be discarded fromthe set of alternative routes R_(A).

In one embodiment, the on-board computer 204 can also rely uponinformation and data transmitted by one or more mobile devices 606 thatare connected to the ADV system platform 600 over a network 608 toobtain information that may impact the total time value T_(RH) of one ormore historical routes R_(H), total time value T_(A) of one or morealternative routes R_(A) and/or obtain information that may be utilizedto calculate and/or update the T_(RN+1) for a new route R_(N+1) uponwhich an ADV is currently navigating. Information that can betransmitted by one or more mobile devices 606 includes, for example,average speed of vehicles on one or more navigable pathways that areincluded within one or more of the routes R_(N+1), R_(H) and/or R_(A),historical information concerning time(s) to traverse the entirety ofone or more of the routes R_(N+1), R_(H) and/or R_(A) or one or morenavigable pathways included within any one or more of the routesR_(N+1), R_(H) and/or R_(A), speed limit of one or more navigablepathways within any one or more of the routes R_(N+1), R_(H) and/orR_(A), roadway obstructions, accidents, conditions of one or morenavigable pathways within any one or more of the routes R_(N+1), R_(H)and/or R_(A), time of day, day of the week, or any information that canbe used to determine and/or update the measurements of the times T_(A),T_(H) and/or T_(RN+1) to traverse the routes R_(A), R_(H) and/orR_(N+1). In this example, that will be described with reference to FIGS.6A-6B, the mobile devices 606 will connect to one or more control systemnodes 502 over a network and transmit information to the one or morenodes 502 using ADV system network 610. An on-board computer 204 cancommunicatively connect to one or more control system nodes 502 over anetwork 608 such that the relevant information can be transmitted fromone or more nodes 502 residing in the network 610 to an on-boardcomputer 204. In this embodiment, users of mobile devices 606 that areconnected to the ADV system platform 600 via a network 608 can transmitinformation concerning any of the navigable pathways included in theroutes R_(A), R_(H) and/or R_(N+1).

As described in step 906, after the set of alternative routes R_(A) hasbeen determined with respect to step 904, each alternative route R_(A)included in the set of alternative routes R_(A) is analyzed to determineif any pre-determined restrictions will cause one or more alternativeroutes R_(A) to be discarded from the set of available alternativeroutes R_(A). For example, once the set of routes R_(A) have beengenerated, the on-board computer 204 determines if one of the routes inthe set R_(A) will become a new route R_(N+2) that an ADV willautomatically navigate according to a set of rules or predeterminedconditions that must be met. For example, as described in step 906, theon-board computer 204 is programmed to select the shortest temporalpathway R_(Q) from the set of alternative routes R_(A) that meet one ormore predetermined conditions, wherein R_(Q) represents the route thatwill take the shortest amount of time for the ADV to traverse from theADV's current position to the predetermined destination D_(N+1) (theshortest temporal route) determined from the set of qualifyingalternative routes R_(A). As described in step 906, these predeterminedconditions may include conditions that are associated with 1) roadwayconditions that exists on one or more navigable pathways included in arelevant R_(A), 2) tollways or other monetary entities that conditiontravel on some sort of payment system that exists on one or morenavigable pathways included in a relevant R_(A), 3) environmentalconditions that exists on one or more navigable pathways included in arelevant R_(A), 4) accidents or other obstructions that exists on one ormore navigable pathways included in a relevant R_(A), or 5) any othercondition(s) or occurrence(s) that exists on one or more navigablepathways included in a relevant R_(A) that will impede an efficientand/or expedient form of travel. In one embodiment, as described withreference to step 906, the on-board computer 204 is programmed to selectalternative routes R_(A) that avoid certain geographical artifacts thatare found along the navigable pathways and/or the relevant geographicalregion, artifacts including, for example, one or more of city streets,tolls, lights, bridges, highways, street cameras, structures, locations,etc. that may exists and are identifiable geographically within therelevant geographical area that includes one or more navigable pathwaysincluded in the set of alternative routes R_(A). According to step 906,for any alternative routes R_(A) that do not meet any one or more of thepredetermined conditions described herein with reference to step 906,the on-board computer 204 will discard the one or more alternativeroutes from the set of alternative routes R_(A) to determine of the setR_(Q) of qualifying alternative routes R_(Q).

Once the on-board computer 204 has identified the set of qualifyingalternative routes R_(Q), the on-board computer 204 determines the timeT_(RQ) for each qualifying route R_(Q), wherein T_(RQ) for each routeR_(Q) represents the total time to traverse the route R_(Q) from thecurrent geographical position of the ADV as described in step 908. Thetime T_(RQ) for each qualifying route R_(Q) is determined in a mannersimilar to that of T_(RN+1) determined for the new route R_(N+1) and/orin one or more ways described herein. Once the set of qualifying routesR_(Q) is determined, the time T_(RQ) for each qualifying route R_(Q) iscontinuously updated and saved by the on-board computer 204 and/or theone or more control system nodes 502. With respect to step 908, inresponse to the on-board computer 204 determining the time T_(RQ) foreach qualifying route R_(Q), the on-board computer 204 determines thecurrent location of the ADV and, with respect to the current location,determines which time T_(RQ) for each of the qualifying routes R_(Q)represents the shortest time, and sets the qualifying route that isassociated with the shortest T_(RQ) as route R_(Qt). In this example,route R_(Qt) represents the shortest temporal path of all of thequalifying routes R_(Q) in the set of qualifying routes R_(Q) from thecurrent position of the ADV to the new destination D_(N+1). As describedin step 908, the on-board computer 204 determines the time T_(Qt) forshortest temporal path route R_(Qt), wherein T_(Qt) for the route R_(Qt)represents the total time to traverse the shortest temporal path R_(Qt)from the current geographical position of the ADV to the new destinationD_(N+1). The time T_(Qt) for the shortest temporal path R_(Qt) iscontinuously updated and saved by the on-board computer 204 and/or theone or more control system nodes 502.

As described in step 910, in response to the on-board computer 204determining the time T_(Qt) for the shortest temporal path R_(Qt), thetime T_(Qt) for the shortest temporal path R_(Qt) is compared to thetime T_(RN+1) for the new route R_(N+1). If the time T_(Qt) for thecurrent geographical position of the ADV is less than the time T_(RN+1)for the new route R_(N+1), then the on-board computer 204 will set theroute R_(QT) as the new route R_(N+2) and automatically re-route the ADVto autonomously navigate the new route R_(N+2) as described herein. Oncethe new route R_(N+2) is set, the dynamic routing algorithm will recycleback to step 902, set R_(N+1) to R_(N+2) and continuously cycle throughthe dynamic routing algorithm that utilizes artificial intelligence toautomatically navigate the ADV as described herein until the ADV reachesthe new destination D_(N+1). For example, in response to R_(N+1) beingupdated to R_(N+2), the on-board computer 204 will determine the timeT_(RN+2) for new route R_(N+2), wherein time T_(RN+2) represents thetotal time to traverse the route R_(N+2) from the current geographicalposition of the ADV, as described in step 902. Thereafter, the dynamicrouting algorithm will use artificial intelligence as described hereinto automatically navigate the ADV by continuously generating alternativeroutes R_(A) in real-time to determine if any of those alternativeroutes represent a shorter temporal route to the current route the ADVis autonomously navigating, and automatically redirect the autonomousvehicle to navigate another alternative route (e.g., new route R_(N+3)if the preceding route was route R_(N+2) and the current destination wasD_(N+2)) if the new route meets predetermined conditions and is ashorter temporal route than the current route the ADV is navigating.

For example, as described in step 912, if the time T_(Qt) for thecurrent geographical position of the ADV is equal to or more than thetime T_(RN+1) for the new route R_(N+1), then the on-board computer 204will discard route R_(QT), go back to step 904 and autonomously navigatethe ADV along the current route R_(N+1) while continuously cyclingthrough the dynamic routing algorithm to generate alternative routes anddetermine if an alternative route meets the predetermined conditions andis a shorter temporal route than the current route the ADV is navigatinguntil the ADV reaches its new destination D_(N+1), as described herein.In the above embodiments, the on-board computer 204, one or more controlsystem nodes 502 or a combination of both can perform the dynamicre-routing algorithm that utilizes artificial intelligence toautomatically navigate an ADV in real time as described herein.

In one embodiment, either the on-board computer 204 or one or more nodes502 will generate the set of alternative routes R_(A). For example, ifan ADV is required to navigate road A, road B, road C and road D fromits current position to reach a new destination D_(N+1), then the ADVon-board computer 204 will monitor its data storage and/or the storagesystem 506 of one or more control system nodes 502 to determine if thereis any current and relevant information concerning road A, road B, roadC and/or road D that will impact the navigable time T_(RN+1). If thereexists an event that will impact the navigable time T_(RN+1) for thecurrent route, either the on-board computer 204 or one or more nodes 502will update the navigable time T_(RN+1) that will take the event intoaccount. Similarly, if an alternative route R_(A) or a historical routeR_(H) includes road G, road H, road I, and road J which representnavigable pathways that an ADV can navigate to reach the new destinationD_(N+1) from its current geographical position along one or morealternative routes, the ADV on-board computer 204 will monitor its datastorage 314 and/or the storage system 506 of one or more control systemnodes 502 to determine if there is any current and relevant informationconcerning road G, road H, road I, and/or road J that will impact thenavigable time T_(RA) or T_(RH) and update the same on the on-boardcomputer 204. In this example, the on-board computer 204 can determineif the information received from devices 606 on the ADV system platform600 or the data storage system 506 included in one or more controlsystem nodes 502 is current using a time/date stamp (e.g., time ofstoring, receipt, transmittal, capture, etc.) associated with theinformation to determine if the received information is within apredetermined time range tx from the current time. For example, theon-board computer 204 can determine if the information is relevant andif the information impacts a time required to traverse one or more roadsA-D or an event that affects one or more measured times T_(RN), T_(RH),T_(RA), T_(Q) and or T_(Qt), as described herein using the dynamicre-routing algorithm described with respect to FIG. 9 herein.

One or more embodiments can use one or more algorithms described hereinto automatically change the current route R_(N) and the currentdestination D_(N) and automatically re-route an ADV 602 to a newgeographical destination D_(N+1) that includes a border security agency650 based upon 1) a request for a heightened security screening from theborder agency 650, or 2) a heightened security algorithm initiated by anon-board computer 204 in response to ADV occupant identificationinformation, ADV content identification information, and/or informationconcerning the trip. In either scenario, the data storage 314 includedin an ADV on-board computer 204 and/or the storage system 506 includedin one or more control system nodes 502 of the ADV network, that iscommunicatively coupled to the ADV on-board computer 204 over a network608, stores mapping information of a relevant geographical area thatincludes the current route of an ADV. For example, in either scenario,the mapping information can be utilized by the on-board computer 204and/or one or more control system nodes 502 to determine thegeographical location of a border security facility and generate a routeto the border security facility that represents a new route R_(N+1) anda new destination D_(N+1) that is different than the current route R_(N)and the current destination D_(N) utilizing techniques described herein.In one or more embodiments, once a heightened security screening isrequested by either the on-board computer or the relevant border agency650, the new destination (i.e., the geographical location where thesecurity screening will take place) is received or determined byon-board computer 204, the on-board computer will automatically generaterouting information, using techniques described herein, andautomatically re-route the relevant ADV and its occupants and navigatethe new route from the current location of the vehicle to the newdestination.

In one or more embodiments, ADV vehicle identification information(described herein), ADV occupant identification information (describedherein), and ADV content information (described herein) is wirelesslytransmitted to a relevant border security agency. As described herein,the CPU 302 is programmed via occupant identification system 320 toutilize occupant sensors 208 and generate information that can beutilized to verify the identification of the ADV occupants. Occupantidentification information can be obtained from input data by the one ormore ADV occupants utilizing a GUI (not shown), and/or data obtained bythe utilization of occupant sensors 208 (e.g., camera and sensordevices, scanners, readers, etc.). The ADV occupant identificationinformation can include scanned governmental IDs and forms (e.g.,driver's license, passport, social security card, credit cards,immigration documents, travel forms, on-line forms, etc.), photographsand other imaging data received by occupant sensors 208 or any otherinformation that may be used to verify a person's identification. Theinformation concerning the contents that are being transported withinthe relevant ADV can be obtained from user input using a GUI (not shown)that enters the identification of items that will reside in the ADVinterior either in a container (e.g., suitcase, backpack, bag,container, etc.), outside a container (e.g., golf clubs, sportingequipment, rifles, etc.), or on an ADV occupant's person (e.g., weapon,glasses, wallet, etc.). As described herein, the CPU 302 is programmedvia content identification and monitoring system 322 to utilize contentsensors 220 and generate information that can be utilized to identifyand/or verify the ADV contents that will be transported within the ADVvehicle. Once the occupant identification and the ADV contentinformation is obtained, the same is stored in data storage 314 and/orstorage system 506 in one or more nodes 502 such that it can betransmitted via network 608 to the relevant border agency 650.

The occupant identification, ADV content information, ADV identificationinformation, trip information (e.g., details concerning the trip,described herein) and any other relevant information (i.e., bordersecurity information) can be transmitted in response to certainoccurrences. For example, once it is determined by either an on-boardcomputer or one or more nodes 502 in the ADV network 610 that a currentroute of an ADV includes one or more navigable pathways that cross asecured border, the border security information can be automaticallyobtained using techniques described herein and automatically transmittedto the relevant border security agency such that the information can beutilized in any manner they deem appropriate to either let the ADVnavigate the border crossing route uninterrupted or transmit a requestfor a heightened screening, an action that would automatically re-routethe ADV to another predetermined destination D_(N+1), as describedherein. Similarly, the border security information can be transmitted tothe relevant border security agency automatically at a certain pointalong the border crossing route (e.g., within a certain distance fromthe border or border security agency, or a specific border securityfacility). Similarly, the border security information can be manuallytransmitted by an ADV occupant.

In one or more embodiments as described with reference to FIGS. 10A(e.g., step 1002) and 10B, one or more detected physiological states(i.e., physiological state information) of one or more ADV occupants canalso be transmitted to a relevant border security agency in real-time,upon certain occurrences as described herein with respect to bordersecurity information, and/or upon the detection of an event, to arelevant border security agency 650 as described herein. For example, anon-board computer 204 via an occupant physiological state monitoringsystem 312 can monitor one or more occupants of the ADV using occupantsensors 208. As described herein, occupant sensors 208 can be wiredsensors, wireless sensors, wearable sensors (e.g., one or more ADVwearable physiological sensor 270 and/or ADV wearable occupant sensordevice 250 operated as described herein) and/or any combination of theaforementioned. As described with reference to step 1002A described withreference to FIG. 10B, one or more of the occupant sensors 208 describedherein are calibrated using baseline measurements for each occupantbeing monitored such that accurate and precise physiological parametermeasurements can be obtained by the on-board computer 204 via theoccupant physiological state monitoring system 312. This step can beperformed at the initialization stage of the physiological monitoringalgorithm and also performed one or more times during the occupancy ofthe ADV with respect to the relevant occupants. The calibration step isalso performed when a new occupant to be monitored using thephysiological monitoring algorithm enters the ADV.

Once the occupant sensors 208 are calibrated, the on-board computer 204initiates a monitoring mode at step 1002B wherein occupant sensors 208generate data that is indicative of one or more of a relevant occupant'sphysiological and/or current state of being. In one embodiment, theoccupant sensors 208 continuously monitor and generate data that isindicative of the current physiological state of the relevant occupantsfor the entirety of the travel time. In another embodiment, the occupantsensors 208 enter a monitoring mode at intermittent times during a tripand lie in a resting/dormant state for other times during a trip. Themonitoring and resting times for the occupant sensors 208 concerning amonitoring mode may be dependent upon the times that a relevant bordersecurity agency wants to determine the current physiological state ofthe relevant ADV occupants (e.g., any time during the trip, 10 milesbefore the secure border, at any time during the heightened securityscreening, etc.). In one embodiment, the data processed by the occupantsensors can be indicative of a patient's vital signs, physiologicalsigns including, for example, electrocardiogram (ECG), electromyogram(EMG), heart rate (HR), body temperature, electrodermal activity (EDA),arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2), blood pressure (BP) and respirationrate (RR) as described herein and with reference to step 1002B. Forexample, one or more of the occupant sensors 208 may bemicro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) sensors that include, forexample, magnetic field sensors, gyroscopes, and accelerometers thatmeasure motion and be used to generate data concerning cardiovascularand pulmonary physiological conditions and sleep analysis. One or moreof the occupant sensors 208 can be a strain gauge that is worn by anoccupant that generates data that is indicative of an occupant'srespiratory cycle. For example, one or more wearable physiologicalsensors 270 worn by one or more ADV occupants can include one or morestrain gauges that generate data while a relevant occupant breathes dueto his/her chest expanding and contracting. One or more of the occupantsensors 208 may be a camera that measures facial expressions, movement,physical activity, etc., images of which can be indicative of one ormore physiological states (e.g., anxiety, nervousness, stress, destress,heightened awareness, panic attack, epilepsy, heart attack, stroke,seizure, neurological conditions or episodes, illness due totemperature, etc.). For example, one or more of the occupant sensors208, such as one or more ADV wearable physiological sensors 270, caninclude one or more electrodes that are embedded in a piece of wearableclothing, such as a t-shirt, a headband, a sock, undergarments or anyother piece of clothing that is in physical contact with an ADVoccupant's skin to measure ECG, heart rate, and respiration rate. Forexample, one or more of the wearable physiological sensors 270 can be aplurality of electrodes encased in fabric and configured to generate ECGdata from an ADV occupant when disposed in close proximity to anoccupant's skin.

Once the occupant sensors 208 start generating physiological data asdescribed herein, the on-board computer 204, as described with referenceto step 1002C, processes the physiological data received from one ormore occupant sensors 208 utilizing the occupant physiologicalmonitoring system 312 and measures vital signs and physiological signssuch as electrocardiogram (ECG), electromyogram (EMG), heart rate (HR),body temperature, electrodermal activity (EDA), arterial oxygensaturation (SpO₂), blood pressure (BP) and respiration rate (RR) and/orother information that is indicative of an one or more occupant'sphysiological and/or current state of being. Due to the calibrationprocess of the occupant sensors 208 performed within the physiologicalmonitoring algorithm, the determination of whether an event occurs forone or more of the relevant ADV occupants is an individualizeddetermination for each monitored occupant. The on-board computer 204 isconfigured to monitor and process physiological data and information fora plurality of ADV occupants simultaneously. For example, if one moreoccupant sensors 208 is a wireless sensor that functions as discussedherein (e.g., camera), the on-board computer 204 will differentiatebetween the ADV occupants and based upon the calibration data receivedand generated, data which can include baseline physiological data thatis individual to an occupant (e.g., facial recognition, certainphysiological signs and measurements, a person's identity, age, sex,race, finger prints, gender, etc.). In one embodiment, ADV wearableoccupant sensor device 250 is configured to transmit processed sensordata to an on-board computer 240 such that the on-board computer 204 canprocess the information to determine if an event has been detected.

As described herein and with reference to step 1002C, an event mayinclude one or more physiological states of the relevant ADV occupantincluding, for example, anxiety, nervousness, stress, destress,heightened awareness, panic attack, epilepsy, heart attack, stroke,seizure, one or more neurological conditions or episodes, illness due totemperature, one or more respiratory ailments and/or conditions, heartailments and/or conditions, and/or one or more conditions and/orailments that affect an occupant's physiological, emotional or physicalstate. In one embodiment, an on-board computer 204 is continuouslyprocessing physiological sensor data to determine if one or morephysiological metrics (e.g., electrocardiogram (ECG), electromyogram(EMG), heart rate (HR), body temperature, electrodermal activity (EDA),arterial oxygen saturation (SpO₂), blood pressure (BP) and respirationrate (RR) and/or other physiological metrics or indicators of a person'scurrent physiological state) falls outside a normal range or above/belowa predetermined threshold for one or more ADV occupants. In oneembodiment, the on-board computer 204 utilizing the occupantphysiological and monitoring system is programmed to be amulti-parameter event system such that two or more physiologicalvariables and/or physiological metrics variables that fall outside apredetermined range for the relevant metric will trigger an event.

For example, with respect to step 1002D, the on-board computer 204 ismonitoring the current state of one or more relevant ADV occupants suchthat, as described in step 1002C, the on-board computer 204 will keepmonitoring the occupant sensor 208 data until an event occurs. If noevent occurs, as described with reference to the query block 1002D inFIG. 10B, the flow chart moves back to step 1002C, the flow chartdescribing the continuous monitoring function of the on-board computer204. If an on-board computer 204 determines that one or morephysiological metrics falls outside of a normal range or is above/belowa predetermined threshold for one or more ADV occupants and determines,based upon this and/or other physiological information either receivedor processed by the on-board computer 204, that an event has beendetected, the algorithm moves to step 1004 described with reference toFIG. 10A, and the on-board computer 204 automatically associates the ADVoccupant physiological data with the border security informationrelevant to the monitored ADV occupant, transmits the physiological datato one or more nodes 502, and/or transmits the physiological datadirectly to the relevant border agency 650.

In one or more embodiments, an on-board computer, utilizing the bordersecurity dynamic re-routing algorithm described with respect to FIG. 10Athat utilizes artificial intelligence, analyzes received and obtainedborder security information to determine whether a relevant bordersecurity agency should perform a heightened security screening of one ormore of the ADV occupants, the ADV contents, and the ADV vehicle itselfand, upon finding that a heightened security screening should beperformed, automatically re-routes the ADV to a border securityfacility. For example, with respect to step 1002, a border security modeis initiated wherein the border security information (as describedherein, including but not limited to ADV identification information, ADVcontent information, ADV occupant identification information,information concerning the trip (e.g., routing information, person'sthat will be visited, reasons for the trip, and any other relevantinformation concerning the trip) and any other relevant information) isreceived and/or obtained using techniques described herein. The bordersecurity information can include the current physiological state of oneor more of the ADV occupants obtained with respect to the flowchartdescribed in FIG. 10B. The border security information is organized, asdescribed with respect to step 1004, such that it is associated with aparticular ADV vehicle and referenced herein, for simplicity sake, as aset of ADV factors that includes all of the border security information.In one or more embodiments, the border security information can bestored and referenced in any manner such as in one or more databases ormemory structures described herein. For example, database structures andthe contents that populate the same can be utilized. At step 1004, theset ADVF_(N) of ADV factors is compared against a set of securityfactors SF_(N) that contain one or more security factors SF_(NP)(primary) and SF_(NS) to determine if one or more ADV factorsnecessitates a heightened security screening.

In one or more embodiments, one or more processors including processor302 and/or one or more processors including processor 514 can beprogrammed to communicatively couple with one or more security and/orimmigration databases to compare ADV occupant identification data andADV content data received by one or more occupant sensor devices 208 andcontents sensors 220 to database information to assist in determining ifa heightened security screening should be requested. For example,processor 302 and/or one or more processors 514 included in one or morenodes 502 can transmit a request to border security agency 650, alongwith the identification data received by the occupant sensor devices 208that is indicative of the identification of the one or more ADVoccupants, to confirm the identification of the ADV occupants and/ordetermine if the identification of one or more ADV occupants warrantsheightened screening. In one or more embodiments, the on-board computer204 or one or more nodes 502 have access to a security agency database,held in data storage 656, one or more computer devices 652 or server654, to compare the received ADV occupant identification from occupantsensor devices 208 with security agency stored data such that theon-board computer or one or more nodes will confirm the identificationof the ADV occupants. In another embodiment, the relevant securityagency 650 will receive the wirelessly transmitted ADV occupant dataand, in response to a request for confirmation of the identification ofthe ADV occupants, transmit the confirmation via network 608 to theon-board computer 204 and/or one or more control and system nodes 502.In one or more embodiments, the relevant security receives the data thatis indicative of the identification of the one or more ADV occupants andthe data that is indicative of the identification of one or more ADVcontents that are being transported by the ADV and wirelessly transmitsa determination and/or information to on-board computer 204 and/or oneor more control and system nodes 502 such that a determination can bemade by on-board computer 204 and/or one or more control and systemnodes 502 whether a heightened security screening should be requested.In one or more embodiments, the relevant security agency itself cantransmit a request for a heightened security screening.

In one or more embodiments, on-board computer 204 and/or one or morecontrol and system nodes 502 can be given access to one or more relevantnational or regional databases to wirelessly requests, via one ornetworks, data that may be utilized to identify and/or confirm theidentity of one or more ADV occupants. For example, national and/orregional databases that may be accessed include the one or moredepartment of motor vehicle (DMV) databases, one or more relevantTransportation Security Administration (TSA) databases, Federal Bureauof Investigation databases, one or more credit card databases, one ormore voter verification databases, one or more national car insurance orother insurance databases, one or more National Identificationdatabases, one or more public databases including utility databases,and/or social security databases, etc. Utilizing these types ofdatabases, one or more embodiments can identify and/or confirm theidentities of ADV occupants in any country that has databases that canbe accessed to verify the identification of persons. In one or moreembodiments, the same or similar databases can be accessed by on-boardcomputer 204 and/or one or more control and system nodes 502 todetermine what ADV contents identified by contents sensor devices 220are legal, illegal and/or require heightened scrutiny for each country,geographical region and or secure location.

As described with respect to FIG. 10C step 1004A, the set of securityfactors SF_(N) that contain one or more security factors can beorganized in a list of primary security factors and weighted secondarysecurity factors. In this example, if the set ADVF_(N) of ADV factors ascompared to the set of security factors satisfies any primary securityfactors SF_(NP), a heightened security screening is automaticallyinitiated as described with reference to FIG. 10A at step 1006 such thatthe dynamic routing algorithm is commenced, as described herein and withrespect to steps 1006 to 1010. Primary security factors SF_(NP) relatedto ADV identification information include but are not limited to thefollowing: The identification of a known felon; The identification of amissing person; The identification of a person (e.g., a minor) that isthe subject of a court order; The identification of an illegalimmigrant; The identification of a person of interest; and Theidentification of any individual that warrants heightened scrutiny orhas been banned by TSA or any other governmental agency. Secondaryfactors that SF_(NS) related to ADV identification information includebut are not limited to the following: The identification of a personthat has gone through the heightened security screening process before;The identification of a predetermined number of minors in a single ADV;The identification of one or more persons that fit some sort of profile;The identification of a person that will be visiting a foreign countryfor an unusually short or unusually long amount of time; and/or Anyother issue that may be associated with an individual that can be takeninto account in determining whether a heightened security screeningshould be imposed.

Primary security factors SF_(NP) related to ADV content informationinclude but are not limited to the following: A gun; A knife that isextremely long, hazardous or used for only one purpose (e.g., sword,scabbard, spear, etc.); An explosive; A hazardous chemical; An unusuallylarge amount of chemical(s); A collection of separate items whencombined form any of the primary items or similar items describedherein; Animals that are harmful to the ecosystem or banned from aparticular country; Plants that are harmful to the ecosystem or bannedfrom a particular country; and Any items banned by TSA or any othergovernmental agency. Secondary factors that SF_(NS) related to ADVcontent information include but are not limited to the following: Anunusual chemical(s); A knife that is legal but suspicious in any way;Items of interest (e.g., to an investigation, items that pose questionsas to why the individual has it in his/her possession; items that seemextremely valuable); Extremely large amounts of currency; Extremely rareanimals and/or plants; Unidentified rare animals and/or plants; or anyitem that is worth further scrutiny.

Additionally, details about the trip including person's to be visited,lodging and lack of lodging accommodations, length of time versus theamount of clothing taken on the trip, or any other detail about the tripitself can be utilized to factor into whether a heightened securityscreening should be imposed. Additionally, any detail about the ADVvehicle itself can be utilized to factor into whether a heightenedsecurity screening should be imposed. For example, if the ADV vehiclewas tampered with such that sensors detect a change in tire pressure,weight, alignment, core computer operations, etc. can be factored into adetermination as to whether a heightened security screening should beimposed.

As described with respect to step 10046 in FIG. 10C, if any ADV factorsin the set ADVF_(N) match any primary security factors SF_(NP), thealgorithm advances to step 1004F wherein the ADV is automaticallyre-routed from its current geographical destination D_(N) along thecurrent route R_(N) to navigate a new route R_(N+1) to reach the newpredetermined destination D_(N+1) (i.e., wherein the new destinationD_(N+1) is the geographical location of the border security agencyfacility where the heightened security screening will take place) andadvances to step 1006 as described in FIG. 10A. The new route R_(N+1)can be generated, for example, by determining the path with the shortestdistance from the current geographical vehicle position to the newdestination D_(N+1) utilizing mapping information generated by on-boardcomputer 204 that include the lengths of the navigable pathways betweenthe current vehicle location and the new destination. In one or moreembodiments, at steps 1006 through 1014, the dynamic routing algorithmutilizing AI (artificial intelligence), as described with respect toFIG. 9, will initialize such that alternative qualifying routes R_(Q)and their associated times T_(Q) required to reach the border agencyscreening facility (i.e., new destination DN+1) utilizing each of thealternative qualifying routes R_(Q) are generated and compared againstthe current route R_(N+1) and the associated time T_(RN+1) that it willtake to reach the border agency screening facility from the currentgeographical position of the ADV using the current route R_(N+1). Inthis embodiment, steps 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, and 1014 that utilize adynamic re-routing algorithm that utilizes AI to determine the shortesttemporal route to a destination will not be discussed in detail as theyare similar to steps 904, 906, 908, 910 and 912, respectively, which arefully discussed herein with respect to FIGS. 7-9 along with thetechniques for performing the associated functionality.

As described with respect to step 10046 in FIG. 10C, if none of the ADVfactors in the set ADVF_(N) match any primary security factors SF_(NP),the algorithm advances to step 1004C to determine if any of the ADVfactors match any of the secondary security factors SF_(NS). One or moreembodiments assign certain numerical weights to each secondary securityfactor that represents a risk value for that particular secondaryfactor. For example, at step 1004E, if an ADV occupant is transporting acan of gasoline in the ADV, the identification of a can of gasolinematches a secondary security factor at step 1004C and the algorithmadvances to step 1004E to determine the risk level associated with thecan of gasoline. For example, at step 1004E, it may be determined thatthe possession of a can of gasoline by itself may have an associatedrisk factor of 2. In this instance, because the combined risk factors ofall of the ADV factors that match any secondary security factors SF_(NS)do not add up to a predetermined threshold, e.g., 10, the on-boardcomputer 204 has determined that the risk factor is low enough such thata heightened security screening is not required. In this example, thealgorithm advances to step 1004D wherein the algorithm is advanced tostep 10016 described with respect to FIG. 10A which ends the ADVinitiated border security screening mode such that the ADV is notre-routed to a border security facility and can continue on its presentroute across the relevant secure border without stopping.

In another example, at step 1004E, if the on-board computer 204identifies both a can of gasoline and a bag of fertilizer such that,when combined, the risk factors exceed a predetermined threshold, e.g.,10, then the algorithm advances to step 1004F wherein the ADV isautomatically re-routed by on-board computer 204 from its currentgeographical destination D_(N) along the current route R_(N) to navigatea new route R_(N+1) to reach the new predetermined destination D_(N+1)(i.e., wherein the new destination D_(N+1) is the geographical locationof the border security agency facility where the heightened securityscreening will take place) and advances to step 1006 as described inFIG. 10A. In one or more embodiments, at steps 1006 through 1014, thedynamic routing algorithm utilizing AI (artificial intelligence), asdescribed with respect to FIG. 9, will initialize such that alternativequalifying routes R_(Q) and their associated times T_(Q) required toreach the border agency screening facility (i.e., new destinationD_(N+1)) utilizing each of the alternative qualifying routes R_(Q) aregenerated and compared against the current route R_(N+1) and theassociated time T_(RN+1) that it will take to reach the border agencyscreening facility from the current geographical position of the ADVusing the current route R_(N+1). In this embodiment, steps 1006, 1008,1010, 1012, and 1014 that utilize a dynamic re-routing algorithm thatutilizes AI to determine the shortest temporal route to a destinationare similar to steps 904, 906, 908, 910 and 912, respectively, and willnot be discussed in detail.

In one or more embodiments, current physiological states of one or moreADV occupants can be categorized as primary or secondary securityfactors that will either automatically re-route the ADV to a bordersecurity facility to engage in a heightened screening process, asdescribed with step 1004F in FIG. 10C, or can be treated as secondarysecurity factors that can be associated with numerical weights thatrepresent a risk value, as described with respect to step 1004Edescribed with reference to FIG. 10C. For example, if an on-boardcomputer 204 detects via occupant state monitoring system 312 utilizingone or more occupant sensors 208 that one or more ADV occupants iscurrently having an anxiety attack within a certain distance from asecurity check-point (e.g., an ADV factor that matches a secondarysecurity factor that has a risk value of 2 by itself), this informationalone is not enough to re-route the ADV to a border security facility,as described at step 1004F in FIG. 10C. For example, if the ADVtransporting the person having the anxiety attack is also transportingvaluable contents such as jewelry and a somewhat large amount ofcurrency (i.e., two ADV factors that match secondary factors that bythemselves do not combine to meet a predetermined threshold of risk) andwhen the numerical risk associated with these three secondary securityfactors together is calculated, it can, for example, exceed apredetermined numerical risk threshold. In this example, the ADV isautomatically re-routed by on-board computer 204 from its currentgeographical destination D_(N) along the current route R_(N) to navigatea new route R_(N+1) to reach the new predetermined destination D_(N+1)(i.e., wherein the new destination D_(N+1) is the geographical locationof the border security agency facility where the heightened securityscreening will take place) and advances to step 1006 as described inFIG. 10A. In each of these examples as described with one or moreembodiments, upon the detection of one or more ADV factors matching atleast one primary security factor SF_(P) or the requisite secondarysecurity factors SF_(S) such that a predetermined numerical riskthreshold is exceeded, as described herein with reference to FIG. 10C,the on-board computer 204 and/or one or more of the system control nodes502 are programmed via the dynamic routing system 308 in case of theon-board computer 204 or the routing system 512 in case of the one ormore control nodes to execute a dynamic routing algorithm that utilizesartificial intelligence to continuously generate the shortest temporalroute from the ADV's current position to the new destination D_(N+1)(i.e., wherein the new destination D_(N+1) is the geographical locationof the border security agency facility where the heightened securityscreening will take place) based upon information concerning thenavigable pathways in the relevant geographical region.

In one or more embodiments, as described herein and with reference toFIGS. 6B, and 10A through 10C, one or more processors 302 (on-boardcomputer) and/or 514 (control system nodes) and/or other hardware areutilized to execute a dynamic routing algorithm that utilizes artificialintelligence to dynamically alter a planned or current route of an ADVand re-route the ADV to a border security agency 650 facility based upona heightened security screening request. The screening request can bebased on one or more real-time events associated with one or moreoccupants of an ADV or arbitrarily requested. For example, a bordersecurity dynamic re-routing algorithm can be automatically initializedby an on-board computer 204 in response to a request for a heightenedscreening from a border security agency before a trip is started or atany point during a trip that the relevant ADV is autonomously navigatinga current route R_(N) (e.g., before the ADV reaches the secure border,after the ADV crosses the secure border, or before the ADV startsnavigating the current route R_(N)). In this embodiment, the bordersecurity agency can also require that the relevant ADV include one ormore predetermined navigable pathways in any new routes generated toreach the new border security destination. Once the new border securitydestination and any routing requirements are received or determined byan on-board computer 204, the on-board computer 204 utilizes the dynamicrouting system 308, mapping system 310 and the reference positioningsystem 304 to automatically re-route the ADV from its currentgeographical position on the current route R_(N) to a new route R_(N+1)that includes the new geographical destination D_(N+1) associated with aqualifying border security agency 650. In this embodiment, the on-boardcomputer 204 and/or one or more of the system control nodes 502 areprogrammed via the dynamic routing system 308 in case of the on-boardcomputer 204 and the routing system 512 in case of the one or morecontrol nodes to execute a dynamic routing algorithm that utilizesartificial intelligence to continuously generate 1) a set of routesR_(Q) from the ADV's current position to new geographical destination(i.e., border security facility), and 2) the shortest temporal routeR_(Qt) from the set of routes R_(Q) that are continuously generated fromthe ADV's current position to the border security facility based uponinformation concerning the navigable pathways in the relevantgeographical region and within the set of continuously generated routesR_(Q).

Another embodiment can use one or more dynamic routing algorithmsutilizing artificial intelligence described herein to automaticallychange the current destination of an ADV to a new geographicaldestination based upon one or more environmental conditions that existsor will exists to impact one or more navigational pathways in therelevant geographical area. Still another embodiment can use one or morealgorithms described herein to navigate an ADV to a plurality ofpredetermined geographical destinations in a single generated route,wherein the ADV can dynamically choose any one of the plurality ofpredetermined destinations D_(N) that represents the shortest temporalpathway from the current geographical location of the ADV, then move onto choose any one of the remaining plurality of predetermineddestinations D_(N−1) (i.e., a set of destinations that does not includethe previously chosen destination) based upon which of the set ofdestinations D_(N−2) represents the shortest temporal pathway from thecurrent geographical location of the ADV, and so on until all of theplurality of predetermined destinations D_(N) have been reached by theADV.

FIG. 6B shows a system block diagram of one embodiment the ADV systemnetwork platform 600 that operates as a border security screening systemin conjunction with an identified border security agency 650 (e.g.,international border security agency, security agency for a secure zonein a geographical area, etc.) that may be communicatively coupled to theADV system network platform 600. In one or more embodiments, the ADVsystem cloud network 610 that comprises one or more control nodes 502that are described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6B can include one ormore web servers, and one or more waveform servers. The waveform serversand web servers are communicatively connected to the Internet such thatdata transmitted to the waveform servers and web servers from one ormore ADVs including border security information concerning one or moreoccupants of an ADV, ADV contents that are being transported by the ADVand information concerning the trip and the ADV itself, as describedherein, can be transmitted by one or more of the waveform servers andweb servers over a local network 608 to a border security agency 650 orother security or governmental agency. For example, once an ADV isautomatically re-routed to a border security agency as described herein,information concerning an arrival time of an ADV defined as the time itwill the ADV to reach the relevant border security agency from thecurrent geographical position of the ADV (i.e., the current destinationof the ADV along a route once it has been re-routed in accordance withthe border security dynamic re-routing algorithm described herein) canbe transmitted to the relevant border security agency along with otherinformation, data and instructions. For example, once the relevant ADVcarrying one or more occupants and items is re-routed to an identifiedborder security agency, information including one or more of anoccupant's current physiological state, metrics, age, gender, height,weight, race and/or any other information concerning the one or morerelevant occupants can be transmitted to the border security agencywhile the ADV is autonomously navigating the current route to the bordersecurity agency.

In one embodiment, the web servers included in one or more controlsystem nodes 502 are communicatively coupled to a border security agencyvia communications bus 660 such that the border agency 650 can transmitthe border security information described herein concerning the ADV andits occupants to a database 656 that can be accessed by border securityagency computer stations 652. Information that is transmitted from thewaveform servers and web servers containing border security informationcan be transmitted to a facility data storage facility 656 (e.g.,database) such that it can become accessible to any border securityagency facility that has access to the data storage facility 656. Forexample, the transmitted information can become part of an occupant'simmigration or travel record such that the information will beassociated with any currently existing or newly created record(s) forthe ADV occupant and stored in the relevant border security agencydatabase for accessibility by those security agents or other embassypersonnel with proper authorization. For example, in an embodiment ofFIG. 6B, a plurality of border, immigration and embassy facilitiesinclude a plurality of computer user interfaces that are configured toreceive data from an applet that resides within a border security agencyserver 654 and communicates with either of a waveform server that is oneor more of the nodes 502 in the ADV system network over a public networksuch as a TCP/IP network to update an ADV occupant's record forprocessing one or more relevant ADV occupants through immigration. Inone embodiment, the system 600 can include one or more physiologicalsensor transmitters that are included in wearable sensors 208 describedabove for transmitting physiological data to an ADV on-board computer204 that, in turn, will transmit the processed data and otherphysiological information to one or more control system nodes 502, asdescribed herein.

As described herein, ADV 602 includes an on-board computer 204 thatfunctions to autonomously navigate “drive” the ADV along generatedroutes. Additionally, ADV 602 can be controlled manually when put into amanual mode of operation to operate as a normal vehicle. Here, an ADVoccupant can manually operate a steering wheel, gas and brake pedals,turn signals, emergency lights, utilize one or more mirrors, andaccelerate and/or come to a complete stop such that the ADV can bedriven like a conventional vehicle.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures referenced to describeone or more embodiments illustrate the architecture, functionality, andoperation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computerprogram products according to various embodiments of the presentinvention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagramsmay represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises oneor more executable instructions for implementing the specified logicalfunction(s) and/or method steps. It should also be noted that, in somealternative implementations, the functions noted in a block may occurout of the order noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown insuccession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or theblocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending uponthe functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware andcomputer instructions.

One or more embodiments of examples of the computer devices that can beutilized in within the ADV system network platform 600, as describedwith reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B, and/or computers communicativelyconnected to the network platform 600 will now be described withreference to FIGS. 1-6B. For example, on-board computer 204, ADVwearable occupant sensor device 250, ADV wearable state sensor 270, ADVcontrol system node 502, and/or one more border security agencyworkstations 652 and border security agency server 654 one or morecomputer components and corresponding functionality as described belowto enable the functionality of the computer devices described hereinwith reference to FIGS. 1-10C, and can include communicationtransceivers that enable wired and/or wireless communication of devicedata, device data including transmitted data, received data, real timetransmission of data and/or data scheduled for broadcast, data packetsof the data, and any other transmission or reception form ofcommunication using transceivers.

For example the computer devices on-board computer 204, ADV wearableoccupant sensor device 250, ADV wearable state sensor(s) 270, ADVcontrol system node 502, and/or one more border security agencyworkstations 652 and border security agency server 654 may be configuredto provide voice and/or data communications functionality in accordancewith different types of wireless network systems. For example, ADV 204,in one embodiment, includes a microphone wherein one or more ADVoccupants can transmit voice data from the on-board computer 204 to oneor more computer system nodes 502 that, in turn, may transmit the voicedata to one or more border security agencies 650 via network 608, bordersecurity agency network communications backbone 660 (e.g., acommunications bus) to one or more border security workstations 652 andthe associated border security agency, as described with reference toFIG. 6B. Mobile devices 606 may also communicate with the ADV controlnetwork platform 600 via a communication network. Examples of wirelessnetwork systems that may be utilized as networks 608, 610 and any one ormore networks connected to border security agency network communicationsbackbone 660 to operate to connect the communicatively connect theborder security agency 650 to the networks descried herein may furtherinclude (but are not limited to) a wireless local area network (WLAN)system, wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN) system, wireless widearea network (WWAN) system, and the like. Examples of suitable wirelessnetwork systems offering data communication services may include (butare not limited to) the Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) 802.xx series of protocols, such as the IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n series of standard protocols and variants (also referred to as“WiFi”), the IEEE 802.16 series of standard protocols and variants (alsoreferred to as “WiMAX”), the IEEE 802.20 series of standard protocolsand variants, and the like. It should be noticed that references WAN andWWAN may be made interchangeably throughout the disclosure and/orreferences to LAN and WLAN may be made interchangeably throughout thedisclosure.

The computer devices on-board computer 204, ADV wearable occupant sensordevice 250, ADV wearable state sensor(s) 270, ADV control system node502, and/or one more border security agency workstations 652 and bordersecurity agency server 654 may also include, for example, one or moredata input ports. For example, I/O interfaces 260 for the ADV wearableoccupant sensor device 250, I/O interfaces 270 for the ADV wearablestate sensor(s) 270, I/O interfaces 316 for the on-board computer 204,and the I/O interfaces for any of the additional computers describedherein may be configured such that any type of data, media content,and/or inputs can be received, such as user-selectable inputs usingdisplay 210, messages using display 210 or a microphone (not shown)connected to the on-board computer 204, recorded video content, and anyother type of audio, video, and/or image data received from any contentand/or data source, including the occupant sensors 208 which includesADV wearable occupant sensor device 250 and ADV state sensor(s) 270, thenavigation and control sensors 218, ADV reference sensors 216, etc. Thedata input ports may also include USB ports, coaxial cable, internalconnectors for flash memory or other memory devices described herein,and readable media such as flash memory sticks, CDs and DVDs. These datainput ports may be used to couple the computer device to components,peripherals, or accessories such as microphones or cameras.Additionally, the computer device may include media capture components,such as an integrated microphone to capture audio and a camera tocapture still images and/or video media content.

The transceiver modules utilized in on-board computer 204 (e.g.,transceiver 206, communications transceiver 214, ADV device controller212 occupant sensors 208), ADV wearable occupant sensor device 250, ADVwearable state sensor(s) 270 or in any one or more of the otherdescribed herein such as, for example, navigation and control sensors218, ADV reference sensors 216, etc. may include one or moretransceivers configured to communicate using different types ofprotocols, communication ranges, operating power requirements, RFsub-bands, information types (e.g., voice or data), use scenarios,applications, and/or the like. In various embodiments, one or more ofthe aforementioned transceivers may comprise, for example, one or moretransceivers configured to support communications between ADVs 602, asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B using any number orcombination of communication standards. For example, the transceiversincluded in or utilized by the on-board computers 204 of ADVs 602 invarious embodiments may comprise one or more transceivers configured toperform data communications in accordance with one or more wirelesscommunications protocols such as (but not limited to) WLAN protocols(e.g., IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, etc.), PANprotocols, Low-Rate Wireless PAN protocols (e.g., ZigBee, IEEE802.15.4-2003), Infrared protocols, Bluetooth protocols, EMI protocolsincluding passive or active RFID protocols, and/or the like.

The computer devices including on-board computer 204, ADV wearableoccupant sensor device 250, ADV wearable state sensor(s) 270, ADVcontrol system node 502, and/or one more border security agencyworkstations 652 and border security agency server 654 may also includeone or more processors, any of microprocessors, controllers, and thelike, which process computer-executable instructions to enable operationof the device and/or an ADV. Alternatively or in addition, the computerdevice can be implemented with any one or combination of software,hardware, firmware, or fixed logic circuitry that is implemented inconnection with processing and control circuits. Although generally notshown, the computer devices including on-board computer 204, ADVwearable occupant sensor device 250, ADV wearable state sensor(s) 270,ADV control system node 502, and/or one more border security agencyworkstations 652 and border security agency server 654 may also includea system bus or data transfer system that couples the various componentswithin the device (e.g., communications backbone 660 described withreference to FIG. 6B). A system bus can include any one or combinationof different bus structures, such as a memory bus or memory controller,a peripheral bus, a universal serial bus, and/or a processor or localbus that utilizes any of a variety of bus architectures.

The computer devices including on-board computer 204, ADV wearableoccupant sensor device 250, ADV wearable state sensor 270, ADV controlsystem node 502, and/or one more border security agency workstations 652and border security agency server 654 may also include one or morememory devices 414 that enable data storage, examples of which includerandom access memory (RAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., read-only memory(ROM), NAND flash memory, EPROM, EEPROM, etc.), and a disk storagedevice. A disk storage device may be implemented as any type of magneticor optical storage device, such as a hard disk drive, a recordableand/or rewriteable disc, any type of a digital versatile disc (DVD), andthe like. The computer devices may also include a mass storage mediadevice.

In one or more embodiments, memory devices included within the computerdevices including memory device 314 (described with reference to FIG. 4)included in on-board computer 204, memory device 252 included in ADVwearable occupant sensor device 250, memory device 504 included in ADVcontrol system node(s) 502, and/or the memory device included in the onemore border security agency workstations 652 and border security agencyserver 654 provide data storage mechanisms to store data and/orinformation generated, transmitted, and/or received from the ADV sensorsdescribed herein. This information includes the border security datadescribed herein, information transmitted via mobile devices 606described with respect to FIG. 6A, device data such as one or moresensors described herein, other types of information and/or data, andvarious device applications including reference and positioning system304, navigation and driving mode system 306, dynaic routing system 308,mapping system 310, occupant state monitoring system 312, occupantidentification system 320, content identification and monitoring system322, and other systems described herein that are configured as, in oneor more embodiments described herein, software applications.

For example, any one or more of the reference and positioning system304, navigation and driving mode system 306, dynamic routing system 308,mapping system 310, occupant state monitoring system 312, occupantidentification system 320, content identification and monitoring system322, and operating system (not illustrated) (i.e., systems that may beconfigured as device applications) included in on-board computer 204 canbe maintained as software instructions within memory device 314 andexecuted on the one or more processors 302. Similarly, one or more ofthe mapping SYSTEM 508, ADV reference system 510, routing system 512,and occupant and content identification system 522 (i.e., systems thatmay be configured as device applications) can be maintained as softwareinstructions within memory device 504 and executed on the one or moreprocessors 514 included in the ADV control and system nodes 502. Each ofthe device applications may also include a device manager, such as anyform of a control application, software application, signal-processingand control module, code that is native to a particular device, ahardware abstraction layer for a particular device, and so on.

In one or more embodiments, on-board computer 204 and/or one or morecontrol system nodes 502 include an in-memory processing systemconfigured to perform in-memory processing that can include memory datagrid applications (e.g., Hazelcast IMDG, Infinispan, Pivotal GemFire XD,Oracle Coherence, GridGain Enterprise Edition, IBM WebSphere ApplicationServer, Ehcache, XAP, Red Hat JBoss Data Grid, ScaleOut SateServer,Galaxy, etc.) to retrieve data from the associated accessible datastorage device. In one or more embodiments, on-board computer 204includes one or more RAM memory devices (e.g., SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM, DDR4 SDRAM, etc.)(not shown) and/or flash memory (notshown) that may be utilized to perform in-memory processing inassociation with data storage 314 (e.g., a database, disk, memory bank,or any other suitable large memory device) or other storage devicesaccessible by on-board computer 204. Similarly, one or more nodes 502may utilize one or more RAM memory devices 524 to perform in-memoryprocessing in association with the data and information stored in themap storage database 506 and/or other storage devices associated withthe one or more relevant nodes (see examples associated with on-boardcomputer data storage device 314). For example, the relevant data and/orinformation retrievably stored in data storage 314 and storage database506 or any other storage device that is utilized to retrievably storeand/or generate information (e.g., border security information, mappinginformation, navigational information, physiological state information,routes, reference information including current position of one or moreADVs, timing information including current times to reach a currentdestination, etc.) can also be maintained in one or more RAM memorydevices, or devices utilized as RAM memory device (e.g., flash memory),and accessed utilizing an processing in-memory system.

The RAM memory device(s) described herein can host all of the relevantdata utilized to navigate one or more ADVs, monitor one or ADV occupantsin one or more ADVs, generate routes for one or more ADVs as describedherein, continuously monitor one or more ADVs and the contentstransported by the one or more ADVs as described herein utilizing thesensors described herein and/or, in one or more embodiments, host theentirety of the large memory structures in memory. In these embodiments,to ensure the durability of the data and information stored in RAM,copies of the data can also be stored in the associated long-term memorydevices (i.e., data storage 314 and/or storage system 506). Flash memorymay also be used in association with or in place of the RAM memorydevice(s) to be used for the on-board computer system memory and/or forthe system memory for one or more nodes 502 for in-memory processing.For example, all of the relevant data required by either the on-boardcomputer 204 and/or control system nodes 502 to perform the functionsdescribed herein can be loaded into the associated system memory fromthe source database so that it can be processed in-memory instead ofrepetitively querying one or more databases for the requiredinformation. In one or more embodiments, the contents of one or morerelevant databases (i.e., the entire database) may be loaded into thesystem memory for processing.

In one embodiment, the on-board computer 204 includes audio and videoprocessing systems that are included in the navigation and driving modesystem 306, ADV device controller 212, and occupant state monitoringsystem 312 that generates audio data and video data to assist innavigating the ADV as described herein, monitor one or more ADVoccupants as described herein, and generate display data as describedherein for a display system 210. Similarly, ADV wearable occupant sensordevice 250 includes audio and video processing systems for communicatingphysiological state information to a relevant ADV occupant. In oneembodiment, each ADV occupant is wearing an ADV wearable occupant sensordevice 250 and one or more ADV wearable state sensor devices 270 toassist the ADV in monitoring the physiological state of the ADVoccupants. The audio system and/or the display system may include anydevices that process, display, and/or otherwise render audio, video,display, and/or image data. For example, one or more occupant sensors208 can be camera devices that generate video data that is convertedinto video files that can be stored locally on computer 204, transmittedto one or more computer and system nodes 502, and/or transmitted vianetwork 608 to a border security entity. The video file(s) that includesone or more videos of one or more ADV occupants can be transmitted inresponse to a request for a heightened security screening. Additionally,image files that include images of one or more ADV occupants may becreated by on-board computer 204 utilizing image data generated by oneor more occupant sensor devices 208 that can be one or more cameras.These image files can also be transmitted to a border security agencyupon a request for a heightened security screening. In one or moreexamples, any of the border security data discussed herein can betransmitted to a border security agency at a scheduled time determinedby an ADV on-board computer 204, one or more computer and system nodes502, or a border security entity.

In one or more embodiments, on-board computer 204 also utilizes one ormore occupant sensors 208 that are camera devices that generate videodata that can be used in conjunction with a secure Internet-enabledvideo conferencing application, such as Skype™, ClickMeeting™ Join.me™and others to enable ADV occupants to communicate with border securitypersonnel. Using video conferencing simultaneously with the disclosedsystem provides a tool for the ADV computer to interface with bordersecurity personnel and allow the ADV system to assist border securitypersonnel in screening ADV occupants and/or ADV contents transported byADV vehicles to remotely perform security screenings and/or request aheightened security screening.

While the making and using of various embodiments of the presentdisclosure are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated thatthe present disclosure provides many applicable inventive concepts thatcan be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specificembodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways tomake and use the disclosure and do not limit the scope of thedisclosure.

Display data and audio signals can be communicated to an audio componentand/or to a display component via an RF (radio frequency) link, S-videolink, HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface), composite video link,component video link, DVI (digital video interface), analog audioconnection, or other similar communication link, such as media data port428. Additionally, the audio system and/or the display system may beexternal components to the computer device, or alternatively, areintegrated components of the example computer device.

All publications and patent applications mentioned in the specificationare indicative of the level of skill of those skilled in the art towhich this disclosure pertains. All publications and patent applicationsare herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if eachindividual publication or patent application was specifically andindividually indicated to be incorporated by reference.

The present disclosure has been described more fully herein withreference to the accompanying figures and drawings, which form a parthereof, and which show, by way of illustration, specific exampleembodiments. Subject matter may, however, be embodied in a variety ofdifferent forms and, therefore, covered or claimed subject matter isintended to be construed as not being limited to any example embodimentsset forth herein; example embodiments are provided merely to beillustrative. Likewise, a reasonably broad scope for claimed or coveredsubject matter is intended. Among other things, for example, subjectmatter may be embodied as methods, devices, components, or systems. Thedetailed description herein is, therefore, not intended to be taken in alimiting sense

Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meaningssuggested or implied in context beyond an explicitly stated meaning.Likewise, the phrase “in one embodiment” as used herein does notnecessarily refer to the same embodiment and the phrase “in anotherembodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to a differentembodiment. It is intended, for example, that claimed subject matterinclude combinations of example embodiments in whole or in part.Likewise, the term “if” may be interpreted as “in response to.”

In general, terminology may be understood at least in part from usage incontext. For example, terms, such as “and”, “or”, or “and/or,” as usedherein may include a variety of meanings that may depend at least inpart upon the context in which such terms are used. Typically, “or” ifused to associate a list, such as A, B or C, is intended to mean A, B,and C, here used in the inclusive sense, as well as A, B or C, here usedin the exclusive sense. In addition, the term “one or more” as usedherein, depending at least in part upon context, may be used to describeany feature, structure, or characteristic in a singular sense or may beused to describe combinations of features, structures or characteristicsin a plural sense. Similarly, terms, such as “a,” “an,” or “the,” again,may be understood to convey a singular usage or to convey a pluralusage, depending at least in part upon context. In addition, the term“based on” may be understood as not necessarily intended to convey anexclusive set of factors and may, instead, allow for the existence ofadditional factors not necessarily expressly described, again, dependingat least in part on context.

In closing, it should be noted that the discussion of any reference isnot an admission that it is prior art to the present invention,especially any reference that may have a publication date after thepriority date of this application. At the same time, each and everyclaim below is hereby incorporated into this detailed description orspecification as additional embodiments of the present invention.

Although the systems and processes described herein have been describedin detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions,and alterations can be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention as defined by the following claims. Those skilled inthe art may be able to study the preferred embodiments and identifyother ways to practice the invention that are not exactly as describedherein. It is the intent of the inventors that variations andequivalents of the invention are within the scope of the claims whilethe description, abstract and drawings are not to be used to limit thescope of the invention. The invention is specifically intended to be asbroad as the claims below and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: one or more processorsprogrammed to autonomously navigate a vehicle along a current route to apredetermined first destination; and one or more sensor devicescommunicatively coupled to the on-board computer; wherein the one ormore sensor devices are configured to generate sensor data that isindicative of an identification of one or more persons and one or moreitems within the vehicle, and wherein at least one of the one or moreprocessors is programmed to: generate security screening data utilizingat least a portion of the sensor data; and transmit the securityscreening data to a border security entity.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein the security screening data is transmitted to the bordersecurity entity in response to a request for a heightened securityscreening.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the oneor more processors is further programmed to: receive a geographicallocation of a security entity; determine a current geographical locationof the vehicle; and generate mapping information for a geographical areathat includes the current vehicle location, the security entity locationand one or more navigable pathways between the current vehicle locationand the security entity location.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein theat least one of the one or more processors is further programmed to:utilize at least a portion of the mapping information to generate a newcurrent route from the current vehicle location to the security entitylocation; and automatically re-route and autonomously navigate thevehicle to the security entity location along the new current route. 5.The system of claim 1, the system further comprising: a data storagedevice communicatively coupled to the one or more processors forretrievably storing data; and an in-memory processing system thatperforms in-memory processing of data received from the data storagedevice.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the one ormore processors, in response to receiving a geographical location of theborder security entity, is programmed to: receive mapping information;and generate a route from the current vehicle location to the bordersecurity entity location and a corresponding route time that representsa time that it will take the vehicle to reach the border security entitylocation from the current vehicle location.
 7. The system of claim 1,wherein the at least one of the one more processors is furtherprogrammed to receive physiological state data concerning at least oneof the one or more persons within the vehicle.
 8. The system of claim 1,wherein the one or more sensor devices includes a camera that isconfigured to generate image data of one of at least one of the one ormore persons within the vehicle and at least one of the one or moreitems within the vehicle.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the one ormore sensor devices includes a transducer that is configured to generatedata indicative of a weight of at least one of the one or more itemsplaced within the vehicle.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein thesecurity screening data includes medical data.
 11. The system of claim1, wherein the security screening data includes information concerningat least one of the one or more items within the vehicle.
 12. The systemof claim 1, wherein the security screening data is transmitted to theborder security entity in response to an event.
 13. The system of claim1, wherein the at least one of the one more processors are furtherprogrammed to automatically navigate the vehicle to the border securityentity in response to a heightened security request.
 14. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the security screening data is transmitted to theborder security entity in response to the vehicle crossing a securedborder.
 15. A processor implemented method comprising: providing anon-board computer comprising one or more processors; providing one ormore sensor devices communicatively coupled to the on-board computer;autonomously navigating, using at least one of the one or moreprocessors, a vehicle along a current route to a predetermined firstdestination; generating sensor data, using at least one of the one ormore sensor devices, that is indicative of an identification of one ormore persons and one or more items within the vehicle; generating, usingat least one of the one or more processors, security screening datautilizing at least a portion of the sensor data; and transmitting thesecuring screening data to a border security entity.
 16. The processorimplemented method of claim 15, the method further comprising, inresponse to receiving a geographical location of the border securityentity, receiving mapping information; and generating a route, utilizinga least a portion of the mapping information, from the current vehiclelocation to the border security entity location and a correspondingroute time that represents a time that it will take the vehicle to reachthe border security entity location from the current vehicle location.17. The processor implemented method of claim 15, wherein the securityscreening data is transmitted to the border security entity in responseto the vehicle crossing a secured border.
 18. A computer programproduct, the computer program product comprising a non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith,the program code readable and executable by at least one of one or moreprocessors to perform a method comprising: autonomously navigating avehicle along a current route to a predetermined first destination;receiving sensor data that is indicative of an identification of one ormore persons and one or more items within the vehicle; generatingsecurity screening data utilizing at least a portion of the sensor data;and transmitting the securing screening data to a border securityentity.
 19. The computer product of claim 18, wherein the method furthercomprises: in response to receiving a geographical location of theborder security entity, receiving mapping information; and generating aroute, utilizing a least a portion of the mapping information, from thecurrent vehicle location to the border security entity location and acorresponding route time that represents a time that it will take thevehicle to reach the border security entity location from the currentvehicle location.
 20. The computer product of claim 18, wherein thesecurity screening data is transmitted to the border security entity inresponse to the vehicle crossing a secured border.
 21. An on-boardcomputer comprising: one or more processors; one or more sensor devicescommunicatively coupled to the one or more processors; wherein at leastone of the one or more sensor devices is configured to generate sensordata that is indicative of an identification of one or more persons andone or more items within a vehicle, and wherein at least one of the oneor more processors is programmed to: autonomously navigate the vehiclealong a current route; generate security screening data utilizing atleast a portion of the sensor data; and transmit the security screeningdata to a border security entity.
 22. The on-board computer according toclaim 21, wherein the at least one of the one or more sensor devices isconfigured to be attached to at least one of the one or more persons,and wherein the at least one of the one or more sensor devices isconfigured to generate sensor data that is indicative of thephysiological state of the at least one of the one or more persons. 23.The on-board computer according to claim 21, wherein the at least one ofthe one or more processors is further programmed to: collect sensor datathat is indicative of to resting heart rate of at least one of the oneor more persons; and determine an acceptable range of heart activity ofthe one or more persons using the sensor data that is indicative of theresting heart rate.
 24. The on-board computer according to claim 21,wherein the at least one of the one or more processors is furtherprogrammed to: collect sensor data that is indicative of a resting heartrate of the at least one of the one or more persons; and utilize theresting heart rate sensor data to calibrate the at least one of the oneor more processors and determine a range of heart activity of the atleast one of the one or more persons that falls within an acceptablerange.
 25. The on-board computer according to claim 24, wherein the atleast one of the one or more processors is further programmed to:determine, based upon at least the portion of the sensor data, if the atleast one of the one or more persons is undergoing a physiologicalevent; and autonomously navigate the vehicle along a new route upon thedetermination of the physiological event.
 26. The on-board computeraccording to claim 25, wherein the physiological event includes one of anervous condition, a panic attack, a heart attack, and a stroke.